


the ships roll by and the lighthouse stands tall, but we're still drowning

by fallingforboys



Series: don't let go darling, you still have a life to love [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brett Talbot & Lori Talbot Live, Corey Bryant & Theo Raeken Friendship, F/M, Good Alpha Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Good Theo Raeken, Hurt Theo Raeken, M/M, McCall Pack, Peter basically adopts Theo, Puppy Pack (Teen Wolf), Scott is a Good Friend, Theo Raeken & Brett Talbot Friendship, Theo Raeken & Malia Tate Friendship, Theo Raeken & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Theo Raeken-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:53:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 29,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29145510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingforboys/pseuds/fallingforboys
Summary: Theo should be dead.There really was no easy way to say it: Theo should be dead. He lives in his truck, barely even eats, gets on average two hours of sleep every night, runs solely on that coffee from that diner that he shouldn’t keep going to but will because the owner there at least seems like she cares, and Theo doesn’t have a lot of people who do that, so he’ll take what he can get. Basically, what Theo’s getting at is that there is no reason in the fucking world that he should be alive right now.
Relationships: Alec/Lori Talbot, Chris Argent/Melissa McCall, Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Ethan/Jackson Whittemore, Isaac Lahey/Original Female Character(s), Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Nolan/Brett Talbot, Scott McCall/Malia Tate
Series: don't let go darling, you still have a life to love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2142510
Comments: 51
Kudos: 212
Collections: and in the end they were a lifetime





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> new story alert!
> 
> i really love this one, and keep an eye out for new chapters, coming soon!
> 
> thank you for reading, as always!

Theo should be dead.

There really was no easy way to say it: Theo should be dead. He lives in his _truck_ , barely even eats, gets on average two hours of sleep every night, runs solely on that coffee from that diner that he shouldn’t keep going to but will because the owner there at least seems like she cares, and Theo doesn’t have a lot of people who do that, so he’ll take what he can get. _Basically_ , what Theo’s getting at is that there is no reason in the fucking world that he should be alive right now. 

If you could even count what he’s doing as being alive. 

It’s more like… surviving. Waking up every day to go to his job at the small, new bookstore that he actually _doesn’t_ totally despise, if only for the fact that he knows that he won’t see anyone from Scott’s pack there. That is _not_ the only reason, and maybe deep down, Theo is kind of a nerd, but he’d _never_ admit that to himself, even in the comfort of his own head.

The comfort of his own head. Yeah, right.

His head is his own personal prison, custom-made just for him– at least he has _something_ that’s made for him, and yeah, he would’ve liked if it was something _nice_ , but beggars can’t be choosers, and Theo is a _fucking_ begger– and torturing him with every single mistake and regret from his past. He can’t close his eyes without seeing Tara and Josh and Tracy and all those unnamed victims that were just _collateral damage_ before, but are now the actors starring in his bad dreams (and yes, that was a Taylor Swift reference, because the daughter of the bookstore owner sat Theo down and forced him to listen to reputation so she’d have someone to talk to about it, and Theo couldn’t exactly turn her down, because her mom was his _boss_ , and he really needed the job, and so now Theo makes random Taylor Swift references in his head that he wishes he could stop but the songs are actually kind of good and he likes listening to them, though he’d rather die than admit that to anyone). 

Anyway, back to his wonderful nightmares. 

He can’t close his eyes without dreaming (is it still dreaming if they’re _memories?_ ) of the morgue, and his heart being torn out of his chest, and Tara crawling towards him with that smile on her face that he wishes he could unsee but he _can’t_ because the universe isn’t kind enough to give him permanent amnesia (Theo often wondered if running into a bookshelf hard enough would do the job) but the worst part is that it isn’t just when he closes his eyes. 

No, he doesn’t get the convenience of being able to leave all those things in the night, in the bitter chill of his truck, in the darkness that hides his tears and scratches. No, he gets to see those things in _daylight_ too, because Theo didn’t deserve that luxury. Not when he did the things he did. Not when so many people died because of _him_. Not when– well this list could go on forever, and Theo was getting a headache, so let’s stop here. 

Theo would be at the front desk of the bookstore, minding his own business, reading a book about biology that he found in the depths of the storage room– because maybe he would _never_ be able to go to college, but growing up with weird mad scientists had its weird side effects, and being interested in biology was one of them– and suddenly, he’d look up thinking he heard something, and Tara would be _right there_ , crawling to him with that _smile_ and a whispered _Theo_ , and he’d freeze, because what else could he do? He didn’t deserve running, he didn’t deserve stopping her, he didn’t deserve a _goddamn_ thing in this world, and he knew it. He’d freeze for seconds, minutes, hours? He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. 

Until the day Elizabeth ( _Beth_ , Theo fixed in his head, because she’d warned him that she’d fire him on the spot if she ever heard him call her Elizabeth again) caught him in one of his catatonic episodes. 

“Theo?” Her voice was so _gentle_ and it kind of almost made Theo _cry_ because when was the last time someone talked to him like that? But the thinly veiled confusion and panic in her tone confirmed that this was not the first time she’d said his name, and Theo blinked, his gaze refocusing on the lady in front of him. 

“Um, sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts,” Theo responded, hoping the smile on his face _looked_ convincing, because it definitely didn’t _feel_ like it. 

Beth continued to study him, her eyes taking in his tense posture and Theo prayed that she wouldn’t notice how thin he was, because he’d been working here for a few months, and he _definitely_ hadn’t been eating as much as he needed to, and Beth was weirdly observant that made Theo wonder if she actually _cared_ but that thought was quickly replaced by his brain logically telling him that he was an _employee_ and she needed _someone_ to run the store. “You look a little tired, did you get enough sleep last night?”

Theo almost snorted. Did he _ever_ get enough sleep? But he painted what he hoped was a reassuring smile and said, “Yeah, I’m fine Beth, don’t worry.”

She didn’t look like she believed him, but she just stared for a few more moments and dropped the subject. “Layla’s coming in soon, and she was talking about how she wanted to go with you to that new ice cream place across the street.”

Theo’s eyes widened, but he schooled his expression before Beth could see. “Doesn’t she have college to worry about? Why is she dragging me to get _ice cream?_ ”

Beth turned to him with a slight glare, and Theo felt like he should be putting his hands up in surrender right now, because she was _scary_. “Layla’s time management skills are not your problem, and you’re allowed to take breaks, you know? The bookstore won’t collapse if you leave for an hour.”

No, but his _sanity_ might. Hard as he tried to deny it, this tiny bookstore comforted him, gave him a space he could pretend that he was just a normal teenager, working a small job to make some money before college. Not the fucked up science experiment that he _actually_ was. 

Theo wasn’t sure he really had a choice in accepting Layla’s invitation, Beth didn’t so much _ask_ him as _tell_ him, and he was as scared of Layla as he was of Beth. So he nodded, and waited for her to walk through the door of the one place that gave him a semblance of a normal life. 

__________________________________

“You look so constipated Theo, oh my _god_ , can you relax?”

Theo threw a napkin at Layla as she snickered, lifting a spoonful of chocolate ice cream to her lips. “Call me constipated again, and you’ll suddenly find yourself out of a biology tutor.”

Layla pouted, and Theo rolled his eyes. He’d spent enough time with the girl to know when she was faking her emotions, and even if he _couldn’t_ , he could scent it out. “Seriously though, why are you so uptight? We’re eating ice cream, not preparing for a war.”

But Theo kind of was, wasn’t he? Every _day_ was a war– always planning where he would need to park his truck so no one would find him, creating the best route to the bookstore so he had no chance of seeing the pack, doing _everything_ he could to avoid anyone that could reveal how miserable of a life he was living. But it’s not like he could say that _out loud_ , so he pushed everything to a small box in his brain, labeled ‘shit I don’t want to think about,’ and forced himself to relax. 

“Hey, do you know that guy over there? He keeps looking over here.” 

Theo turned in his seat, just enough to look at the guy Layla was talking about, and his heart dropped to his feet. _Fuck_. 

“No,” Theo said casually to Layla, turning back around. He knew Scott would be able to hear him, he was probably listening to their _entire_ conversation, because why would he trust Theo with a random girl? Last time that happened, Tracy _died_.

“You sure?” Layla asked, a curious expression on her face, and Theo just wanted to _leave_ , “Cause he’s looked over here at least ten times in the last thirty seconds. If you don’t know him, he’s either a stalker or really interested in you.”

Theo stifled a laugh. Scott interested in him? “There’s no way that’s true, let’s just go.” The chimera got out of the booth, grabbing Layla’s empty cup and his own, before throwing them away. Layla’s brows were furrowed, and Theo was absolutely certain that she’d ask more questions on their way back to the store. They walked to the door, and Theo kept his head down, because Scott was _right there_ , but unfortunately for him, Layla’s furrowed brows didn’t mean future questions– they meant _confrontation_. 

“Hey, why do you keep staring at us?” Layla asked loudly as they passed by Scott, and her eyes hardened, “If you’re a stalker, just know that I have pepper spray in my ba–”

Theo slapped a hand over her mouth, ignoring Scott’s wide eyes, and dragged her out of the store hastily. He could feel the alpha’s stare on his back, but there was no _fucking_ way he was dealing with this shit right now. He didn’t let go of Layla until they were a few hundred feet away, pulling his hand back, and Layla immediately smacked his arm. 

“What the fuck, Theo? What if he was actually a stalker?” Layla’s arms were flailing in a way that reminded him of–

Theo quickly shoved that thought into his mental box. 

“If he was actually a stalker,” Theo began, as they started the walk back to the bookstore, “you just made it worse.”

“I have pepper spray, I’ll be fine,” Layla waved him off. Theo shook his head, and it might’ve even been _fondly._ “Anyway, I have a bio test tomorrow.”

Theo smirked, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket. “And what does that have to do with me?”

Layla shoved him lightly, rolling her eyes. “Shut up, Gina’s at seven?”

Their study sessions _always_ took place at Gina’s diner, and Gina was so used to them showing up that she had permanently blocked off a small table for them near the counter. Theo… didn’t know how he felt about that. Because it wasn’t just that she blocked off the table. No, she’d come over and talk to them, to _him_ , asking about their day, how work and school were going. And _something_ twisted in Theo’s chest every time she did.

“Yeah, okay,” Theo replied, pulling up his hood cause it was starting to get dark, and the chill in the air reminded him of his truck, and he _hated_ it. “Don’t forget your textbook.”

“Oh my _god_ , it was _one_ time, can you let it go already?” Layla huffed, and Theo let out a genuine laugh. His life might be pretty shitty, but Beth, Gina, and Layla at least made it a little worthwhile. 

A few hours later, he was pulling into the parking lot of the diner, recognizing Layla’s car and guessing she came early to start studying. She _hated_ studying at home, said that the quiet chattering in the diner calmed her down and helped her focus. Theo wished he could say the same– the chatter made him _anxious_ , like someone would suddenly pop up and start yelling at Theo. For _what_ , he didn’t know, but there were a lot of reasons they could pick and choose from, if they wanted to. 

“ _Finally_ ,” Layla called out as he entered the diner, “What the fuck is myelination?”

Theo let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head as he walked over. “I’m not sure Gina would appreciate you cursing in front of all the other customers.”

“Well, they can fuck off. This test is worth like thirty percent of my grade and my brain is literally about to explode.”

The next hour consisted of Theo helping Layla study, Gina occasionally popping by to check in and drop off some snacks. And Theo didn’t smile _that_ often, but he made sure to smile when Gina came around, made sure she knew how much he appreciated her. 

“Oh my god, I think the action potentials in my brain stopped working, I can’t think anymore,” Layla groaned, and Theo snickered.

“On second thought, you might fail this test,” Theo teased, and Layla threw an onion ring at him. 

“I think you really need to consider investing in pepper spray,” she said suddenly, and Theo’s head snapped up, seeing her looking at something over his shoulder. “There’s a group of people staring at you, and it’s kinda creepy. You wanna borrow mine for tonight?”

Theo knew who it was before he even turned around. Scott had seen him, it was only a matter of time before he told the pack. But he hadn’t expected the _whole_ Puppy Pack to be standing there, Liam, Brett, Corey, Mason, Nolan, Lori, and Alec (Theo wasn’t completely sure that was the new kid’s name, he’d only seen him like _two_ times), they were _all_ there, and Layla was right, it _was_ creepy. 

“Just ignore them,” Theo said, looking back down at Layla’s notes. “They’ll probably go away soon.”

Just as Layla opened her mouth, probably to argue with him because when has she _not_ , Gina walked up to their table. “You guys want more onion rings? Ryan made a lot more than he needed to, and I’d rather someone eat them than throw them away.”

Theo and Layla eagerly nodded, the onion rings here were _amazing_ , and Gina grinned widely before going to get them. She walked back out a few minutes later, and the two teenagers spent the next ten minutes eating, too focused on enjoying the onion rings to study. Then, Layla turned back to Theo, and he let out a groan, knowing exactly what she was about to say. “Layla, can you just drop it? You have a test tomorrow, and you need to _study_.”

“But, they’re _still here_.”

Theo froze. It’s been almost fifteen minutes, and they were _still here?_ Layla noticed the way his shoulders tensed, and placed a hand on top of his. “Hey, don’t worry, okay? If you don’t feel comfortable going home, you can come to mine. Mom won’t mind, she loves you.”

She thought he was anxious because she thought they were _stalkers_ , Theo realized, and he had to hold back a snort. Both because Layla just implied that he had a _home_ and because Theo might’ve _preferred_ stalkers to this situation. He shook his head slightly, looking up at her concerned face. “No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine.”

“Theo, this isn’t _okay_ ,” Layla declared firmly, her eyes flicking over his shoulder again. “Do you want to leave? We could study at my house instead.”

And Theo immediately felt a rush of gratitude for Layla. Here she was, offering to study somewhere she knows wouldn’t be as effective as the diner, just because Theo was uneasy. He felt a lump in his throat– he didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve someone _caring_ about him, he didn’t deserve someone as good as Layla to consider him a _friend_. He swallowed it down, picking at the napkin in front of him. “Layla, I’m _serious_. I’m fine.”

She was still hesitant, but Theo kept reassuring her that she needed to study, not waste time thinking about things that didn’t matter, and she eventually went back to her notes. Theo answered her occasional questions, but the rest of the time was spent in his head. Why were they still here, why did the _whole_ Puppy Pack show up, why could he smell worry and anguish, why did it seem like they cared when Theo knew they didn’t? The thoughts swirled in his head, and he was lost in the whirlpool, sinking deeper and deeper, until he heard Layla yell his name. 

“Theo!”

The chimera jumped in his seat, blinking rapidly to focus on the girl in front of him, who now looked like she was either about to punch him or hug him– he didn’t know which one he preferred. “Theo, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

“Nothing. I’m fin-”

“You’re _not_ fine,” Layla hissed, and she suddenly slammed her textbook shut, standing up and shoving everything into her backpack. “Let’s go, we’re leaving. I’m gonna tell Gina to keep an eye on them, they’re clearly stalkers.”

“Layla, you don-”

“Shut the fuck up, Theo,” Layla snapped, grabbing his arm and hauling him out of his seat and towards the door. “You look like you’re about to _collapse_.”

“Theo, Layla?” Gina asked, confused, as she saw them rushing to the exit. “You’re leaving already? I still have some food for you guys.”

Layla stopped, and Theo would’ve crashed into her if he didn’t have supernatural reflexes. “Can we take it to go? Theo–” Layla cut herself off, glancing at Theo, then lowering her voice before she continued. “There’s a group of people over there that keep looking at Theo, and I’m pretty sure they’re stalkers or something, so we’re gonna leave.”

Gina’s puzzled face hardened, and her eyes flickered over to where Theo knew the Puppy Pack was still sitting, even though he had his back to them. “You noticed it too? I thought I was just seeing things,” she said in a low voice, and she looked at Theo. “Theo, sweetie, do you wanna stay at my house tonight? I don’t think it’s safe staying by yourself.”

Layla answered for Theo before he could even open his mouth, which, _rude_. “I’ll drag him to mine, Gina, don’t worry.” And Gina barely nodded before Layla was pulling him again, Theo hastily spitting out a _bye, Gina_ as they left. He could _feel_ their stares on his back, could feel _Liam’s_ stare, but he ignored it. It was better this way, better to stay away, better to… just _better_.

Layla pushed Theo into her car, cutting Theo’s protests about his truck off with a _you can pick it up tomorrow_. The chimera sighed, because what else could he do? An angry Layla was not someone he wanted to see, that was one experience that Theo _never_ wished to go through again. 

He complained a little on the way to Layla’s house, but she didn’t even let him talk, and he eventually gave up, sinking into the seat. At least he’d be able to sleep in a bed for one night. 

__________________________________

Theo should’ve known it would happen, it was the _McCall pack_. They were always too nosy for their own good. But he hadn’t expected _this_. He hadn’t expected the _entire pack_ to corner him a block away from the bookstore as he was walking back to his truck after his shift. The sun was just about to start setting, and the slight breeze made him shiver as he walked. And two seconds later, he found himself _surrounded_ by the pack. 

His heart rate spiked before he could control it, because damn it, he was scared. He should’ve left town the second Scott saw him at the ice cream place, should’ve packed his things (which was kind of funny, cause _what things?_ ) and hightailed it out of there. But he _didn’t_ , and now he was surrounded by the pack. 

“Theo, we just want to talk to you,” Scott said gently, clearly picking up on his fear. But Theo’s heart wouldn’t _calm_ _down_ , not when _everyone_ was there, including Malia, Stiles, _Liam_. “Theo–”

Scott was cut off, as a spraying sound filled the air, quickly followed by a loud yelp (Brett’s) and Layla was suddenly in front of Theo, holding her pepper spray in front of her like a gun. “One step closer, and you _will_ be pepper sprayed,” she hissed, narrowing her eyes at the pack. 

The pack took a step back hastily, not wanting to test if she was telling the truth, because, well, exhibit A, _Brett_. Scott raised his hands in surrender, and kept his eyes on Theo. “We just want to talk to Theo. We’re not trying to hurt him.”

“You’re the one from the ice cream place,” Layla suddenly realized, and she stepped closer to Theo as she turned to the Puppy Pack. “And you’re the people that were at Gina’s last night. You guys are actually stalkers, oh my god, _Theo_ , I _told_ you.”

Theo pulled Layla back, so she wasn’t blocking him from the pack. “Layla, they’re not stalkers. What are you even doing here? You’re supposed to be at home.”

Layla’s arms dropped an inch, as she turned to him and a small smile settled on her lips. “I didn’t fail my bio test, and I was coming to thank you.”

Theo was vaguely aware of the pack’s confusion and… was that _irritation?_ But he ignored all of it for a moment, because Layla was his friend (right?) and here was his _friend_ telling him she didn’t fail a test. Which, okay, might not be a _huge_ deal, but Layla _detested_ biology. “Congratulations,” he said dryly, but his tone betrayed his amusement, “See what happens when you don’t forget your textbook?”

Layla smacked his chest, before it seemed to hit her that there were like _fifteen_ people watching their conversation, all with various emotions on their faces. And if Theo was anyone else, and the pack was anyone else, he’d laugh at how wide Stiles’ eyes were. But he wasn’t, and they weren’t, so he just continued staring at them with a neutral expression, wondering why they even wanted to talk to him.

“Theo,” and Theo’s heart skipped a beat, because it’s been _weeks_ since he heard that voice, but it still affected him, “Can you just talk with us?”

Liam looked a weird combination of angry and resigned and puzzled and it was so _cute_ that Theo kind of wanted to take a picture, but he immediately pushed that thought away. The chimera looked at the pack for a couple of moments, before sighing and nodding. 

Layla didn’t like that. “Absolutely _not_. You’re not taking him anywhere.”

“Layla, I’ll be fine, just go hom–”

“ _No_. If you’re going, I’m going,” Layla said, stubbornly, and the pack seemed to realize that there would be no arguing with the girl, so they reluctantly nodded before telling Theo to come to Scott’s house. 

Theo heard the heartbeats as he pulled up to the house, there were _so many_ , and he was pretty sure that _everyone_ was there. Layla grabbed her pepper spray, and Theo tried to tell her that she didn’t need it, but she ignored him. 

He was right– _everyone_ was there. Including Melissa, Argent, the sheriff, Parrish, and even _Peter_. Theo took a moment to control his chemosignals that probably would’ve betrayed his anxiety. Layla, however, seemed to catch onto it, and wrapped an arm around his, lifting her pepper spray, and Theo’s shoulders relaxed a little as he laughed quietly. A low growl came from the pack, and his head snapped up quickly, but not fast enough to see whose it was. 

“Theo,” Scott started suddenly, and Theo’s gaze flicked to the alpha. “Where have you _been?_ ”

“Around.” Keep it short, reveal nothing. Hopefully, it would drive them crazy enough to leave him alone. 

“Where do you live?” Stiles’ question made Theo’s blood run cold. Because that means they had figured it out. But Layla didn’t know that, _obviously_.

“Okay, you’re definitely stalkers,” she blurted out. “Theo, we’re leaving.”

But before they could take step one towards the door, Liam’s cold voice stopped them. “Who’s _she?_ ”

“Oh, so now you wanna stalk me too?” Layla snapped, and Theo would laugh if he was anywhere else, “You’re all _insane_ , c’mon Theo.”

“ _Theo_ ,” Scott sounded like he was _pleading_ , and Theo froze, because it almost felt like he was using his alpha power over him, and it almost felt like it was _working_. “Can you just hear us out?”

Layla was glaring at them, but Theo gently removed his arm from her vice like grip and sat back down. She followed him, crossing her arms stubbornly, making sure her pepper spray was visible. 

“Theo, we know.” Scott’s voice was soft, like he was scared Theo was going to run. And he really, _really_ wanted to, but he wasn’t completely sure Malia wouldn’t slit his throat if he did. 

“Know what?” Layla answered for him, her eyes narrowed. “How long have you been stalking him?”

“Oh my _fucking_ god, we’re not stalking him,” Liam burst out, and Theo could hear his fury, “We’re his _pack_.”

The room stilled. Because Layla was _human_. Her brows furrowed, as she looked at Liam. “His _what?_ ”

And Theo honestly should’ve seen this coming, because he could _feel_ Liam’s anger, at _what_ , he didn’t know, and the beta seemed to lose his brain when he was angry. Scott seemed to have sensed it too, and started to say Liam’s name, but Liam had already shifted, his fangs and claws extending, as his gold eyes flashed at Layla. 

“ _Holy shit!_ ” Layla yelled, jumping up, pulling Theo up with her. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the _fuck?_ ”

The thing is, most of the town knew about supernaturals after what happened. But Layla was in the small percentage that _didn’t_ , because her and Beth had moved here a month after it happened. Beth had grown up here, and she had always wanted to come back to open a bookstore, so she did. Their timing was accidentally convenient, and they avoided the war between the supernaturals and the town _completely_. 

“Layla,” Theo turned towards her, her wide eyes and scared expression making him glare _hard_ at Liam, who to his credit, looked a little guilty, “Calm down, it’s okay. They’re not going to hurt you.”

But Layla had inherited her mom’s annoying perception, and she picked up on Theo’s phrasing of the last sentence. “They’re not gonna hurt _me?_ What about _you?_ ”

Theo faltered, his eyes quickly flickering to Stiles and Malia. “They’re not gonna hurt you,” he repeated, ignoring her second question. “Remember when I told you there were a lot of things about my past that I didn’t want to tell you yet? This is one of them.”

And Layla was _smart_ , she knew what he was saying. “Show me.”

Theo sighed, too tired to argue with her. He shifted, and it said a lot about Layla that she didn’t even _flinch_ , just nodded before turning to the pack. “You said you’re his pack,” she said to Liam, “So why is your presence making him _anxious?_ ”

Theo stiffened, not expecting the girl to say _that_. “Layla, I’m fin–”

“You’re not fucking fine!” Liam exploded, and Theo jumped at the sudden sound. “We make you _anxious_ , and we’re supposed to be your pack! You couldn’t even tell us that you’re _homeless!_ ”

Layla sat up straight, and Theo’s pulse spiked. “ _What?_ ” she snarled, whipping towards Theo. 

“Lay–”

“What the _fuck_ ,” she shoved Theo _hard_ , and he stumbled back, almost hitting Brett, who kind of looked… _amused?_ “Where have you been _sleeping?_ ”

Theo raised his arms to defend himself from her punches, but it was pretty useless. “My truck.”

She stopped, her eyes wide with _hurt_ , and Theo felt guilt roll in his stomach. She didn’t deserve to be _hurt_ , not by anyone, but especially not by _him_. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she said quietly, her anger all draining out. “Why didn’t you _tell me?_ ”

“He didn’t tell _anyone_ ,” and Theo was taken back by the _rage_ in Corey’s voice, because why was _Corey_ mad, he shouldn’t care, he was in fact one of the ones who _definitely_ shouldn’t care because Theo’s actions had affected _him_ directly. 

Layla punched Theo _hard_ in the shoulder. “I should use this pepper spray on _you_ , for keeping this from me.” But she didn’t seem as mad anymore, and Theo felt his lips quirk up.

“You sure? You might need it for my _stalkers_ ,” and Layla laughed, and before Theo noticed she was moving, she was _hugging him_.

“You keep something from me again, and I will, with no hesitation,” she mumbled into his chest, and Theo felt something in his ribs at the concern in her voice. He _really_ didn’t deserve her. Another low growl made Theo realize that he was still at _Scott’s house_ , surrounded by the _entire pack_ , who were looking at him like he had four heads. He pulled away quickly, standing to Layla’s side. 

“Was there anything else you needed, or is that it?” he asked, and Scott looked at him incredulously. 

“Is that _it?_ ” the alpha repeated, “Theo, _where are you going to go?_ ”

Theo faltered, because _clearly_ , if he said his truck, Layla would probably kill him. Scott took a look at his face and nodded. “You’re staying here.”

And the chimera _reeled_ back. “Um, no thank you.”

Lydia let out a frustrated noise, and Theo turned to her with wide eyes. “We’re not giving you a _choice_. You’re _pack_ , and you didn’t tell us you were _homeless_ for _months_. You’re staying here.”

The rest of the pack seemed to agree with her words, and they all kept glaring at Theo, and it kind of made him _nervous,_ because they all looked _mad_ , and maybe they wanted him to stay here so that they could kill him in the middle of the night, because it would be easy, easy to cover up, and his mind kept spiraling and spiraling and spiraling until Peter’s voice interrupted.

“You can stay at an apartment in my building.”

Theo’s head _snapped_ , he honestly probably would’ve gotten whiplash if he was human and he let out a quiet, “ _What?_ ”

Peter’s face revealed nothing, as he crossed his arms and leaned back against a wall, “You clearly don’t want to stay here, I can _hear_ your anxiety. So, what about at an apartment? You won’t even have to pay rent.”

“Uh…” Theo trailed off, not knowing _what_ to say, but before he could say _something_ , Layla smacked his arm.

“Say yes, dumbass. The creepy old man is offering you a _free_ apartment,” she hissed, and Theo wanted to laugh, he really, really did. Before he could stifle it, a short laugh burst out of his mouth, and Layla smirked, as if she had known that it would help his nerves. Apparently, Layla’s description of Peter amused _everyone_ , because a mix of giggles and snickers erupted from the pack, causing Peter to roll his eyes. 

“Yes or no, Raeken? I’m about five seconds from retracting my offer.”

“Yes,” Theo said after a second, and Peter nodded. Scott let out a sigh, and Theo turned to him. 

“You’re _pack_ , Theo,” he said in his comforting alpha voice and hard as Theo tried not to, he felt himself relax a little, “You’re allowed to let us _help_ you.”

“I’m _not_ pack,” Theo retorted, because who were they kidding, they were just pitying him because they found out he was living in his truck, “You don’t have to pretend like I am.”

“ _Yes_ , you are,” Liam interjected, irritated, and Theo’s gaze moved to the beta, “You helped us with the Ghost Riders and with the war. You could’ve left, but you _didn’t_ , you stayed and helped. You’re pack, whether you like it or not.”

Theo was about to respond, but Layla cut him off. “You fought people called the _Ghost Riders_ and you didn’t _tell_ me? What the fuck, Theo,” she said, hitting his chest, “That’s so cool.”

Theo snorted. “Yeah, it wasn’t that cool when they were shooting at us and erasing us from existence.”

Malia let out a short laugh, then immediately stiffened, like she didn’t mean for that to come out. But Theo was already staring at her, because she just _laughed_ at his joke, what the _fuck?_

This day kept getting weirder and weirder.

A few hours later, Peter had thrown him a pair of keys, showed him the door to his new apartment, and then disappeared. And Theo was weirdly grateful that he hadn’t tried to stay and make awkward conversation, hadn’t tried to act like Theo was pack. Because no matter what Scott and Liam had said earlier, he knew he _wasn’t_. 

Layla had come with him, hissing that she wasn’t leaving him alone with the ‘creepy old man’ and Theo didn’t bother arguing with her. She left soon though, saying that she had an early class tomorrow at the community college. 

And now, Theo was alone. In his _apartment_. He swiveled around, taking in the fact that he wasn’t _homeless_ anymore, he had an _apartment_ , and everything just… hit him. He slid down against the wall, his knees suddenly too weak to hold up his weight. He didn’t want to cry, _fuck_ , he didn’t want to cry, but he couldn’t stop the tears in his eyes. He didn’t have a bed, or even _food_ , but he had a _home_. 

__________________________________

Apparently to Scott, being in the pack meant attending pack meetings. Which Theo really didn’t want to do, but Lydia had yelled at him saying she would come over and drag him there if she had to, and Theo didn’t really want to test her because she kind of frightened him. Well, she kind of frightened _everyone_ , so Theo didn’t feel too bad. 

Layla had called him when he was halfway there, and made him pick her up when he told her where he was going. _I just found out there’s werewolves and chimeras and banshees and a lot of other shit_ , she had said, _you better fucking pick me up_.

After Theo had agreed to live at the apartment, the pack had taken turns explaining some of the things they’d been through to Layla, who took everything in with awe and a little anger, at Theo, for not telling her. 

They pulled up to Scott’s house, and went inside, Theo still a little nervous. How had everything changed so _quickly?_ Scott’s eyes brightened when he saw Theo and Layla, throwing them soda cans, before telling them to make themselves at home. Theo sat down on the floor, because there was _no fucking way_ he was going to even attempt sitting next to Liam, and ended up next to Brett and Corey. He stiffened slightly, but the tall werewolf next to him nudged him with an amused look on his face.

“How’s the creepy old man’s apartment?” Brett asked, and Theo couldn’t help but snicker a little. 

“Not that bad,” he replied. “At least if he decides to go back to being a murderer and kills me, I’ll die in a nice apartment.” Theo froze suddenly, that probably wasn’t a _nice_ thing to say and it was kind of _ironic_ considering what _he_ had done, and he didn’t really want to be killed the day after he got a _home_ , but Brett just threw his head back and laughed. 

“I like you,” Brett smirked, “You should come around more.” Theo was taken aback, but he hid it well, and let a small smile lift his mouth. 

“We’ll see,” he said, and his eye caught Corey’s. He tensed again, but the other chimera just shifted closer. 

“You’re a fucking asshole for not telling us you were homeless,” Corey muttered, and Theo was trying _really_ hard not to show that he was surprised. “You’re not the same person you were before, Theo, and you need to get that into your head.”

“You of all people should _not_ be telling me this,” Theo noted, and Corey smacked his head. He yelped, not expecting it, and Brett let out a quiet snicker. 

“You’ve changed,” Corey hissed, “ _Accept_ it.”

Theo rubbed the back of his head, which was really more for show, because he was a _chimera_ , but hesitantly nodded. “So are you guys like my friends now or something?” he drawled sarcastically, because they were acting _nice_ , and it was throwing him off, and he knew they weren’t his friends and he was just trying to push them away, because he doesn’t _deserve it_ , but his mouth dropped open when Corey let out a blunt _yes_.

“Oh, stop acting surprised,” Layla cut in, and Theo suddenly remembered that she was sitting next to them, “Being your friend isn’t _that_ bad.”

“You’re required to say that,” Theo retorted, “I’m your bio tutor.”

Brett snorted, and Layla smirked, ruffling Theo’s hair lightly, before he pushed her hand away with a roll of his eyes. “Stop touching my hair.”

And some small part of Theo’s brain wondered when this pack meeting was gonna start, but he didn’t pay much attention to it, because he was actually not having a _bad_ time. 

“I read somewhere that people who say that love having their hair pulled,” Layla said casually, and Theo’s face _burned_. Layla noticed it immediately, and her jaw dropped. “Oh my god, it’s _true_.”

Brett and Corey _exploded_ in laughter, their giggles drawing the pack’s attention, but none of them, to Theo’s relief, explained what had happened. 

“No, it’s not, shut up or I won’t tutor you anymore,” Theo mumbled, and Layla snickered. 

“I can tell you’re lying, Theo,” she sang, and Brett threw an arm over his shoulder, and Theo stilled for a moment before remembering that the werewolf was his _friend_ now (what a weird concept). 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we can find you someone that likes being on top,” Brett teased, and Theo’s blush deepened as he vaguely heard someone choking somewhere in the room. 

“Please stop talking,” the chimera grumbled at the other three, and they just continued to laugh, apparently enjoying his embarrassment. 

“Who would’ve thought,” Corey’s eyes twinkled, and Theo _knew_ that he was going to hate whatever came out of the chimera’s mouth, “that the big, bad chimera of death was a _bottom?_ ”

“ _Corey_ ,” Theo hissed, but his three friends ignored him, breaking out in another round of laughter. “I hate all of you.”

Layla ruffled his hair again, letting out a disbelieving _sure you do, Theo_.

Scott suddenly got all of their attention, saying they should get started, and Theo was so fucking relieved that this torture would finally stop. Brett must’ve seen it on his face, because he nudged Theo with a smirk, before he reached back and grabbed his own hair and _pulled_ it, his eyes rolling up into his head as his mouth opened and _oh my god_ , Theo was going to die. Corey and Layla giggled, and Theo turned to face Scott, resolutely ignoring all three of his _friends_ , who seemed hellbent on killing him with embarrassment. 

The whole pack was looking at them with weird looks on their faces, and Theo’s cheeks darkened again. “Sorry,” he muttered, motioning for Scott to continue. The alpha stared at him for a couple more seconds, before going back to explaining the “newest” supernatural threat: _more_ hunters. 

Great. 

Apparently, Monroe had simply just _run away_ after they beat her last time, hiding and planning, waiting for the perfect moment to launch her supernatural genocide. The pack meeting only lasted about thirty minutes, because they didn’t really have _anything_ , no information, no locations, _nothing_. So Scott eventually declared the end of the meeting, telling everyone that since it was a Friday, everyone could just stay over, an unofficial pack sleepover. And Theo needed to _leave_. 

He was about to, when Liam stopped him as he was slinking towards the door. “Where are you going?”

Theo’s eyes flicked to Layla, Brett, and Corey, who were looking at him with raised eyebrows, as if they were saying _yeah, Theo, where are you going?_ “To get food?”

Liam snorted, wrapping a hand around Theo’s wrist before dragging him pack to where the Puppy Pack was, and throwing him to the ground next to Brett. “Scott’s ordering food, dumbass.”

Theo sighed, leaning back against the couch behind him, and he vaguely registered the fact that Brett’s shoulder was touching his, the fact that Corey’s shoe was digging into his shin, the fact that Layla, who had settled on the couch, was playing with his hair. He chose to ignore all of it though, knowing that Layla for some reason _loved_ playing with his hair, and it was a touch that Theo had gradually gotten used to. The first time she did it though, he had jumped about a mile, and Layla had laughed at him. 

Mason was looking at him with a hint of _something_ in his eye, and Theo shifted uneasily. “What?” he snapped, and the human didn’t even flinch, just kept _staring_.

“Nothing, she’s– she’s playing with your hair.”

“Congratulations on being able to see, did you get your eyes recently?” Theo said dryly, and the Puppy Pack actually _snickered_. 

“You’re annoying,” Mason retorted, and Theo raised an eyebrow. 

“Enough to kick me out?” he said, only half joking and Liam let out a frustrated noise. 

“We’re not kicking you out, Jesus _Christ_ , Theo,” the beta snarled, and Theo threw his hands up in surrender. 

“I tried to kill them too,” a quiet voice blurted, and Theo turned to Nolan, who looked so _guilty_ that it made _Theo_ feel bad, “You’re not the only one, not in the Puppy Pack, and not in the whole pack. So stop acting like someone’s gonna suddenly think that you are.”

“You tried to kill someone?” Layla said abruptly, and Theo winced, his heart sinking. He felt like he was going to throw up, because Layla was so _good_ , and Theo was so… _not_. 

“Yeah,” he said softly, a lump in his throat. Here it was, the moment she would realize how fucked up he was and leave. Just like his parents did all those years ago, over and over, always choosing Tara or their work or _anything_ above him. Just like the Dread Doctors did, in that dark room, saying it was his _training_ , saying it was to _help_ him. Just like the McCall pack did when they stood and watched as he was dragged down into the hole in the ground by Tara. But he deserved it. He always did. 

“But he’s not that Theo anymore,” Liam cut in, before Layla could say anything, and Theo’s head snapped up to look at the werewolf, who had a soft look in his eye, “He’s better now, and he’s paid for his mistakes. Maybe even more than he deserved.”

Theo was taken aback. “It wasn’t more than I deserved,” he asserted, and cut Liam off when he tried to interrupt. “It _wasn’t_ , stop saying it was. It probably even wasn’t _enough_.”

And before any of them could say anything, Theo stood up quickly, rushing to the bathroom. He didn’t know where that came from– actually, he _did_ , it was what his brain told him _every day_ – but he didn’t want to stay to see if they agreed with him. He locked the door, sliding against it to the ground, taking a deep breath. 

“Theo?”

Layla’s voice was soft, so _soft_ , and Theo didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve a friend like her. 

“You don’t have to open the door, just listen,” she said, and Theo could hear her sitting against the door. “I don’t hate you, I’m not gonna leave, okay? Everyone makes mistakes, everyone fucks up.”

“Yeah, well, my fuck up was a million times worse than everyone else’s,” Theo said, tilting his head back against the door. “You _should_ hate me.”

Layla sighed. “I don’t know the full story, so I don’t know what exactly happened, but just… if you were really the same person that killed someone, would I still be here? You work at my mom’s bookstore, I’ve been your friend for _months_ , and I’ve never seen you do anything _remotely_ evil. You’re like the, the _opposite_ of evil. You help me study and read bio books for _fun_. You always work longer than your shift, just so my mom has company. You’re not evil, Theo. I don’t think you have been for a _while_ now.”

Theo stood up and opened the door, Layla falling back onto his legs since she had been leaning on it. She looked up, tilting her head back, and took Theo’s hand when he extended it to pull her up. “Thank you,” he mumbled, and she looked so _sad_. 

“I don’t know who you were in the past,” she said firmly, “but you’re not him anymore. And _they_ all know that.” She gestured to the living room, where Theo was sure everyone was listening to their conversation. “Now, c’mon, Brett said something about… laced beer?”

Theo chuckled, letting himself be pulled by Layla back to the rest of the pack, who all pretended they hadn’t been listening when they entered. His gaze landed on Liam, who was staring at Theo with a look in his eye that he couldn’t place. When the beta noticed that Theo had caught him staring, he shook his head lightly, turning back to Mason next to him. 

“Pizza’s here!” Stiles called out, and everyone rushed to the kitchen, where Melissa was putting out a stack of paper plates. 

“Do you like pineapple on pizza?” Stiles suddenly asked Theo, and the chimera was so startled that he jumped back into Brett, who placed a hand on his shoulder. It was almost… comforting. 

“Uh… I don’t, I don’t mind it,” Theo stammered out, and the human narrowed his eyes and stared for another second before shoving a plate into his chest.

“Good. The rest of the pack are all _Neanderthals_ who can’t appreciate the delicacy of pineapple on pizza,” Stiles said bluntly, and Theo wanted to _laugh_ because was Stiles being _nice_ to him? 

“Um… thanks?” Theo said hesitantly, and Stiles seemed to find that funny, Theo didn’t know _why_ , and the human grinned. 

“So, you work at a bookstore?” Was Stiles making _small talk_ with him? Did Theo suddenly enter an alternate universe or something? 

“Yeah,” he replied, “It’s nice.”

Layla smacked his head, and he yelped. “ _Nice?_ That’s my mom’s bookstore, asshole.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Theo muttered, and Stiles let out a loud laugh. 

“You’re good at keeping him in check,” he said, impressed, as he looked at Layla, “Teach me your secret.”

“Please,” Layla rolled her eyes, “Theo’s such a _pushover_. He’s a softie when you get to know him.”

Theo flushed as the room went quiet. 

“Theo,” Malia said slowly, “is a _softie?_ ” Layla looked around at everyone staring at her, and her brows furrowed. 

“Yes?” she replied, confused, and Theo could just _tell_ that she was about to say something that would be severely embarrassing for him. “He cried when we watched Titanic.”

The pack was completely silent for a moment, before everyone _exploded_. Theo heard Stiles’ gleeful _oh my god_ and Brett’s obnoxious laughter that he was slowly getting used to. Heard Corey’s quiet giggles and Scott’s disbelieving snort and Liam’s loud guffaws. Theo wanted to _disappear_. 

“I have pictures!” Layla exclaimed suddenly, as if she just remembered, and that was the _last straw_ for Theo, and he lunged at her, but she had seen it coming and _ran_. Theo chased her, knowing his reputation (Theo could probably make another Taylor Swift reference here) was probably never gonna recover from this, but it would be even _worse_ if those pictures saw the light of day, so he kept running in circles. Until Layla suddenly stopped. Theo almost crashed into her, but managed to stop and reached for the phone, when she _shoved it down her bra_. 

Theo froze, his hand awkwardly hanging between them. Layla raised an eyebrow, and he _flushed_. He was _gay_ , for fuck’s sake, and she _knew_ that, but this was still _embarassing_. He pulled his hand back slowly, and suddenly realized that the whole pack was laughing at him. _Of course they were_. 

“Okay, okay, let’s eat guys,” Scott interjected with his i’m-the-alpha-listen-to-me voice, and everyone eventually quieted down as they grabbed food. Layla said she’d be right back, and left for the bathroom. Theo let out a sigh, leaning against the counter next to Brett. 

“You guys are close,” the tall werewolf noted, and Theo saw Liam look up from the corner of his eye. 

“Yeah,” Theo breathed out, his eyes glazing over as he remembered when they first met, her mom offering him the job, introducing her daughter, who instantly declared herself as Theo’s friend, at a time when he was at his _lowest_ , wondering if hell was better than what he was living, “She helped me, a lot. I don’t think she’ll _ever_ know how much she’s helped me.”

Brett must’ve noticed the vulnerable look on Theo’s face, because he grabbed him, hauling him outside. Theo was startled, forgetting that he was still with the pack, but the next thing he knew, they were a few hundred feet away from the house, and Brett turned to him. “You looked like you were about to pass out,” as an explanation for his actions.

Theo’s lips twisted in a bitter smile. “I’m used to the feeling. Thanks, though.” 

Brett suddenly drove his fist into Theo’s stomach. The chimera gasped, bending over at the sudden jolt of pain, half from the actual punch, half from the way his stomach _twisted_ , cause how long had it been since he’d eaten again?

“What the fuck, Brett?” Theo panted, and the werewolf glared at him as the chimera straightened up again. 

“You need to eat,” Brett said curtly, “You shouldn’t look like you’re about to faint from a _punch_.” 

And before Theo could reply, the blond grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the house, throwing the door open before shoving Theo in. The room was quiet, and no one said anything as Brett pushed a plate stacked with pizza into Theo’s hands, glowered at Alec until he hastily stood up from his seat at the table, and pushed Theo into it. He kept scowling at Theo, and the chimera sighed, before taking a bite out of the pizza. He gave Brett a _happy now?_ face, and the werewolf nodded. The pack was just _watching_ the absurd interaction, and Theo couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. He’d been embarrassed like ten times today already, and he thinks that his blood was just too tired of rushing to his face. 

__________________________________

“You know bio.”

Theo glanced up at Liam, who had a sheepish look on his face as he stood in front of the table the chimera was sitting at. He didn’t know how Liam knew he was at Gina’s, but he just nodded at the statement, because it wasn’t really a question. 

Liam breathed out a sigh of relief, and slid into the booth across from him, dropping his bag next to him as he took out a binder. “Can you help me study? I have a test tomorrow, and I’m completely lost.”

The beta was rambling on about what his test was about, and Theo tried to listen, but he was so _confused_. “Liam.” 

The younger boy stopped talking, giving Theo a questioning look. The chimera stared at him for a few seconds before talking again. “Why are you asking _me_ for help?”

Liam looked at him weirdly. “You’re like the smartest person in the pack when it comes to bio. Who else would I ask?”

Theo was frozen for a moment, but he recovered quickly, asking Liam what he needed help with. _Yes_ , this was weird, but he wasn’t going to say _no_ , cause even though he’d never admit it, he _couldn’t_ say no to Liam. And Theo was scared of the reason why. 

Theo helped him for a few hours, both of them leaning over Liam’s notes and textbook, Theo patiently explaining the concepts that Liam just didn’t seem to _understand_ , but he didn’t give up. And that was oddly… attractive, Theo thought, before quickly dismissing it. That was the _last_ thing he needed to be thinking about, especially when Liam was _right there_. Theo’s phone buzzed, giving him a distraction, and he flipped it over to see Layla’s contact picture– a goofy picture that she had taken when she stole his phone during one of his shifts– and answered it.

“Theo, where are you?” Layla’s voice was panicked, and Theo immediately stiffened. 

“Layla? What happened?”

“Um… there’s a guy at the bookstore and he– he has a gun.”

Theo swore, exchanging a glance with Liam, who had obviously heard the conversation, and they both rushed to his truck. “Layla, we’re on our way, don’t do anything stupid.” 

The chimera drove _fast_ , probably running a red light, but he didn’t really care. It wasn’t like anyone was going to _fine_ him for it. They reached the bookstore in record time, and ran in. The hunter was pointing the gun at Layla, and Theo moved, his claws extending as he slashed his back. Liam rushed in front of him, knocking the hunter out with a hard punch to the head. 

“Oh, thank god,” Layla breathed out, quickly making her way to them from behind the counter. “I thought I was going to _die_.” Theo placed an arm on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, because he wasn’t really that good at this, but it seemed to work, and Layla relaxed a little. 

“Why did the hunter come here?” Liam asked loudly, startling both of them. Theo looked down at the unconscious man. 

“He probably realized I work here,” the chimera said quietly, before turning to Layla, “I need to quit. If I keep working here, they’re just gonna keep showing up.”

“You’re not going to _quit_ ,” Layla hissed, annoyed. 

“He had a _gun_ ,” Theo spit out, because he didn’t want more people getting hurt because of _him_ , and Layla and Beth, he _finally_ admitted to himself, meant a lot to him. “You could’ve gotten hurt. And Beth. It’s only gonna get worse if I stay here.”

“Theo–”

“ _No_ ,” Theo cut her off, “This isn’t an argument, I’m not asking for your opinion, Layla. I’m quitting.”

Layla huffed in frustration. “Have fun explaining it to my mom.”

“No need,” a new voice called out, and all three of them whipped around to find Beth standing there, her face as gentle as always. “I grew up in Beacon Hills, there’s always been something weird in this town. And as much as I don’t want Theo to go, I also don’t want my brand new bookstore being shot down.” Her voice was teasing by the end, and Theo snickered. 

“You’re not quitting,” Beth continued, “Just on a temporary leave. And whenever you get rid of those people, whoever they are, you _better_ come back. Or I _will_ hunt you down.”

Theo’s lips tilted up. “Okay,” he said, and it was _genuine_ , because he _genuinely_ liked this place. 

Beth gave him a hug, and it was so _nice_ , like something Theo thinks feels like a hug from a _mother_ , but Theo wouldn’t know what that _really_ felt like, and then they left, throwing the hunter into the back of his truck to drop off at the preserve. 

“She’s nice,” Liam’s voice was so _loud_ in the silent truck, and Theo hummed in agreement. 

“Yeah, she gave me a job when I really needed one. Treated me better than anyone else has in this town for a long time,” the chimera said, thinking of his parents and the Dread Doctors, but Liam seemed to think he was talking about the pack. 

“I’m sorry.”

Theo gave him a confused look. “Why are _you_ sorry?”

“For not _knowing!_ ” Liam blurted out, his arms flailing up and Theo was suddenly reminded of his walk back to the bookstore with Layla a few days ago. “You’re _pack_ , and you helped us _so much_ during the war, and after, it’s like we just _forgot about you_. We didn’t think to check in, didn’t think to see if you were okay. Didn’t think to check if you were _homeless!_ ”

Theo looked at Liam out of the corner of his eye, and the beta was breathing heavily, his eyes flashing. “Liam, calm down. You’re shifting.”

Liam looked taken aback, like he hadn’t even realized. “Oh.”

“And it wasn’t your job to do any of that,” Theo said, thinking back to what the werewolf had said. “You all had your own things to do, you didn’t need to check in on me.”

“Yes, we _did_ ,” Liam snarled, “You don’t deserve to be homeless, to not eat, to not have a _bed_ to sleep in. You’re part of our _pack_ , and we _abandoned_ you.”

Theo took everything in for a few moments. “Okay,” he said hesitantly, still unsure of his position in the pack, but Liam was getting _angry_ , and Theo figured that him arguing wouldn’t help the beta’s control. “I still don’t have one of those,” he mentioned casually, hoping to lighten the mood. 

“Don’t have what?” Liam asked, his brows furrowed. 

“A bed.”

Liam gaped at him and Theo shrugged. “I’m not exactly _rich,_ Liam. You think I can just pull a bed out of my ass?”

The younger boy looked at him for a couple of seconds, before pulling out his phone. “We’re fixing this right now.”

Apparently, “fixing this” meant calling Lydia, who had gasped loudly when Liam told her the current state of Theo’s apartment, and told him to give her two days. Liam agreed, because why ask Theo, it’s not like it was _his_ apartment or anything, and hung up the phone. “Wanna come over? I still need to study.”

Theo looked at Liam, who was pouting, and _fuck_ , of _course_ he wasn’t going to say no. Ten minutes later, they were both in Liam’s room, lying on the floor and surrounded by various papers. Theo’s phone lit up, Brett’s name on the screen, and he lazily brought it to his ear.

“You’re good at bio, right?”

Theo let out a quiet chuckle before replying. “I’m at Liam’s helping him study.”

“I’ll be there in five,” Brett said quickly, the phone cutting off. Theo looked sideways at Liam, who was looking at him… _fondly?_ Yeah, no, Theo was probably just tired, cause there was absolutely way that was true. 

The doorbell rang five minutes later, and it wasn’t just Brett that walked into Liam’s room. No, it was the _entire Puppy Pack_. Nolan and Corey looked at him with sheepish grins. 

“Mason’s explanations don’t make sense to me,” Corey said, and gave his boyfriend a guilty look, “Sorry, babe.”

“And you two?” Theo asked Lori and Alec with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re kind of hot,” Lori replied bluntly, and Theo flushed. He dropped that subject _quickly_. 

“Don’t let Layla hear you say that,” Liam said, and it almost sounded… bitter. Theo turned to the beta, puzzled. 

“Why?”

It was Liam’s turn to look confused. “I don’t think your girlfriend would want to hear someone else call her boyfriend hot?”

Theo’s brain was frozen. It took him a few moments to process what Liam had said completely, but when it sank in, he started snickering. He didn’t say anything though, and it seemed to throw Liam off, because he was getting irritated. 

“Why are you laughing?” Liam snapped, but Theo couldn’t stop, because _please_ , Layla being Theo’s _girlfriend?_

The rest of the Puppy Pack was looking between him and Liam, and Theo finally calmed down enough to gasp out a breathless “I’m _gay_.”

Liam froze, and it sent Theo into another round of laughter. “I can’t believe you thought… you thought she was my _girlfriend_. I can’t _wait_ to tell her that.”

“Wait, you guys _aren’t_ dating?” Mason asked him incredulously. 

“ _No_ ,” Theo repeated, still grinning. “We’re _friends_.”

“We thought that you guys were just hiding it,” Corey said, turning to Theo with a weird look in his eye, “That the _friends_ was a cover.”

Theo shook his head, another few laughs escaping him, because did they _actually_ think that? “Wait, does the _whole pack_ think we’re dating?”

“Uh, _yeah_ ,” Nolan stated, “You guys were really close.”

“Does _she_ know you’re gay?” Liam suddenly asked, and Theo turned to him in disbelief.

“What the fuck guys,” he blurted out, grabbing his phone to call Layla and end this conversation. “Layla,” he said when she picked up and put it on speaker, “do you know that I’m gay?”

There was silence for a few seconds and then: “What the hell, Theo? Yes, I know that you’re gay, did you get hit in the head?”

“No,” Theo snickered, “the pack thought we were dating and then thought that you didn’t know I’m gay.”

Layla’s laughs burst out of the phone as she said, “I was actually gonna call you, by the way, there’s this guy I met last week, and you guys would make a _really_ cute couple. Can I give him your number?”

Theo faltered, not knowing _what_ to say. “Um… is he cute?” But Theo really _didn’t_ want her to give him his number, because the only guy Theo wanted to date was lying next to him, weirdly stiff all of a sudden. 

“ _Yes_ ,” Layla gushed, “I can send you his pic–”

“Okay, Layla, Theo’s gotta go, he’s helping me study for bio, bye!” Liam cut her off, grabbing Theo’s phone and hanging up. Theo stared at Liam, who suddenly flushed. “Um… what’s the pineal gland do again?”

Mason snorted, giving Liam a _hard_ stare that Theo didn’t understand, but apparently Liam did, because he mumbled a _shut up_ before turning to the chimera again. “So, back to studying?” he asked with a hopeful look on his face that kind of made Theo want to kiss him, but he pushed down that urge into the pit of his stomach, and nodded. 

And that’s how Theo ended up being the Puppy Pack’s official bio tutor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fasten your seatbelts, the angst rollercoaster is about to start
> 
> i apologize in advance for this one guys

“I heard you’re a bio tutor now.”

Theo stifled a groan at the loud voice, and looked at Stiles, who had slid into the booth across from him. Gina’s was supposed to be _his_ place, but now, apparently _everyone_ decided to bother him here. “You don’t need bio help.”

Stiles snickered. “No, I don’t. But I think it’s pretty weird how quickly you agreed to help everyone else.”

Theo gave him an unimpressed look. “They needed help, and I know things. It’s not that weird.”

Stiles hummed as he tapped his fingers on the table. “Maybe.” He didn’t say anything after, and kept staring at Theo in that _Stiles_ way that made Theo want to turn invisible, like he could see inside Theo’s head and read his thoughts. 

“Was there something else you needed?” Theo asked, exasperated after Stiles didn’t talk for two minutes. 

“Yeah,” Stiles said, finally looking away from Theo, “Lydia said your apartment is ready.”

Theo rolled his eyes. The banshee hadn’t let him even _enter_ his apartment for the last two days, saying it was supposed to be a surprise. Theo had been staying at Liam’s house, which, okay, he wasn’t exactly _complaining_ about. The subtle smell of _Liam_ that drifted in the house calmed him down, relaxed him. Theo knew that came dangerously close to admitting that Liam was his, well, he wasn’t fully ready to admit that yet, even inside his head. “Great, why are you the messenger?”

“ _Because_ ,” Stiles breathed out, standing up and pulling Theo with him towards the door, “Lydia didn’t trust you to go back and see it if someone wasn’t with you. And I was the ‘chosen one.’”

“I think Harry Potter could probably kill you with his eyes closed,” Theo said wryly, catching the reference, and Stiles let out an indignant cry. 

“Harry Potter doesn’t have werewolves and chimeras and banshees on his side,” the human declared, and something shifted in Theo’s chest when he heard chimeras. Of course, Stiles could be talking about just Corey, but something told Theo that he _wasn’t_. 

“Yes, but he does have a _wand_. And he literally has to say two words.” They were at Theo’s truck, and apparently Stiles had _walked_ , because his Jeep was nowhere in sight. 

They got in, Stiles sliding into the passenger seat as he let out a frustrated noise. “ _Yes_ , but one strategically placed scratch, and he’d be down.”

“Are you suggesting that we’d _paralyze_ him?”

Stiles froze, turning to Theo. “ _Jackson_. Oh my god, we’d _so_ win. He can literally paralyze people, Theo. Harry stands no chance against us.”

Theo felt his mouth quirk up. Because this felt… friendly. Like they were just two teenagers, arguing the ins and outs of supernatural creatures beating a wizard. “So can he, dumbass. Did you forget about the body-binding spell?”

Stiles waved him off, leaning back into his seat. “That’s not as effective, Jackson can move faster.”

“I’m not sure that’s entirely true.”

“Well, _I_ think it is,” Stiles said, as Theo pulled up to the apartment building. “So you’re wrong, just accept it.”

“If that’s how you win arguments, I think I understand why your dad is so annoyed all the time.”

Stiles hit the back of Theo’s head as they walked inside, Theo grabbing his key to unlock the apartment. He froze at the sight that met his eyes. The apartment was… _fully furnished_. Like something out of a furniture catalog. There was a couch and a tv in the living room and his kitchen cabinets and drawers were all filled with food and dishes and utensils. He walked dumbstruck into the bedroom, and there was a _bed_ , with nightstands on either side of it, and when he pulled open the closet door, there were _clothes inside._ And somehow, they were all Theo’s size, and it kind of scared him a little bit how much Lydia knew sometimes. 

“And,” Theo heard the click of a camera, “ _perfect_. Lydia’s gonna love this.” Stiles pushed a few buttons on his phone, and Theo’s own phone buzzed in his pocket. Stiles had sent it to the _pack group chat_ , with _everyone_ , and Theo flushed as they all began reacting to the picture. There were multiple “ha ha’s” and a few thumbs ups, but then he noticed that Liam had reacted with a _heart_. 

Theo’s cheeks darkened, and Stiles smirked. “You saw Liam’s reaction, didn’t you?”

“Fuck off, Stiles,” Theo muttered, but the human’s amusement didn’t leave his face. “Is there another pack meeting tonight?”

“Yep,” Stiles confirmed, and started walking to the door, looking back impatiently when Theo didn’t follow him. “ _Well_ , let’s go. You’re my ride, I’m not walking to Scott’s house.”

Theo rolled his eyes, before grabbing his keys from the counter. “I don’t know how Scott put up with you for all these years. I don’t remember you being this annoying in fourth grade.”

“Well, we were all different in fourth grade,” Stiles said quietly, and the mood suddenly grew tense as they walked to the truck. 

“Stiles,” Theo blurted out, because he _needed_ to say this, hadn’t said it to _him_ , and he probably deserved it more than anyone else, except maybe Scott, who he had actually _killed_ , “I’m _sorry_.”

Stiles turned to him as Theo drove, his eyes calculating. “I know. You’ve changed, Theo. And I know that. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know that. But thank you.”

The air got a little lighter after that, Stiles suddenly asking him if he thought the pack could handle going against the Avengers, and another discussion began. They were still talking about it as they entered Scott’s house.

“But Captain America has his _shield_ , and that’s _it_ ,” Theo said, annoyed. “ _You_ could probably go against him and win.”

“He’s _superhuman_ , Theo,” Stiles retorted, flipping him off at the subtle dig Theo made at him, “I think he could beat us.”

“How would Captain America beat us, and not _the Hulk?_ ” Theo exclaimed incredulously. 

“ _Because_ , his ang–”

He was cut off by someone clearing their throat. They both turned, and found the whole pack staring at them, amusement and confusion on their faces. Scott, who had been the one to clear his throat, smirked at Theo. “Thank god you can deal with this bullshit. I had to go through this for _years_ , and I couldn’t care less about it. Seems like you do, though.”

The tips of Theo’s ears turned pink. “Isn’t Marvel like, universally liked?”

“ _Right,_ ” Stiles said, “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But _Scott_ refuses to watch the movies.”

Scott shook his head fondly, motioning to the living room. “If you guys are done arguing about which Avenger can beat us, we have a pack meeting to get started on.”

Stiles rolled his eyes at Theo, mocking Scott as he turned around, and Theo honest to god _laughed_. This pack thing, it felt… _good_. Like he was part of a _family_. Theo didn’t know when he ever had that. 

“You like Marvel,” Mason noted as he walked into the living room and sat down next to the Puppy Pack. 

“Yeah?” Theo answered, confused. 

“Cool. We have weekly movie nights,” the human stated, gesturing at the Puppy Pack, “You should come.” And then he turned back to Corey, like this was a completely normal thing to say, but then again, Theo thought, maybe it _was_. Maybe _this_ was what pack was. 

“He’s right,” Liam mumbled to him, shifting closer so that their shoulders and thighs brushed, and Theo had to control the uptick in his heartbeat _fast_. “You should come. They’re pretty fun, and we always get like a hundred pictures of Brett drooling.”

Brett heard what Liam said, and reached over from the other side of Theo to smack Liam’s head. “Don’t make me pull out the pictures of you from before _that_ lacrosse game,” and apparently Liam knew _exactly_ what he was talking about, because he blushed furiously. “Or tell a certain _someone_ about your cr–”

“ _Okay_ ,” Liam interrupted, his cheeks dark, and it was endearing, Theo thought, before he could stop himself. “What’s the status on Monroe?”

“We know she’s on the move,” Argent said, his face stoic, “We got information from our contacts in Arizona and southern California. She’s on her way here.”

The room was silent as they all processed the fact that they might have another war on their hands. 

“Well,” Scott said, his voice firm, “We'll be ready when she does.”

And he sounded so convincing, Theo wanted to believe him. 

__________________________________

“How are you so good at this? You grew up in _tunnels._ ”

Theo snorted, his eyes glued to the screen as he raced past Liam’s character, coming in first, _again_. “I think it’s more about the fact that you _suck_.”

Liam tensed for a moment, and Theo looked at him quickly. Did he say something wrong? Liam teased him about the tunnels thing, he thought it was okay to tease him back. But Liam didn’t look _mad_ , no, the tips of his ears were _red_ and Theo picked up on his slightly elevated pulse. 

“Liam?” The beta lowered his head, and Theo could tell he was hiding _something_.

“I’m fine,” Liam mumbled, “Just thinking of something else.” Theo gave him a confused look, because he was so _lost_ , but Liam waved him off. “We should start, we’re gonna be late.”

Theo didn’t want to drop what had happened– if he said something to hurt Liam, he wanted to _know_ , because he didn’t _want_ to hurt Liam. But the werewolf stood up hastily, making his way down to Theo’s truck, and Theo had no choice. 

“Where’s Layla?” Lori asked him as soon as they entered Scott’s house, and Theo raised an eyebrow. “She’s one of the only girls in the pack, and I need _someone_ to talk to about all you dumbasses.”

Layla being included in the pack so quickly warmed Theo’s heart– like his supernatural life and his human life were finally meeting, and it wasn’t a colossal disaster like he thought it would be. “She’s in class, but she said to tell you that she has a solution to your problem, whatever that means.”

The girl werewolf flushed for a second, before controlling her expression, and mumbling a quiet _fucking Layla_. Theo had a pretty good idea what Lori’s problem was– anyone with _eyes_ could see that it involved the new kid– but he wasn’t gonna push her. 

“Okay, okay, enough teasing Lori,” Scott said, a smile on his face that quickly dropped as he turned to Argent. “We have bad news.”

“Fucking Monroe,” Liam muttered from next to Theo, “Can’t Beacon Hills get a break?”

“It’s _Beacon Hills_ ,” Mason patted his best friend’s shoulder comfortingly, “Breaks are an illusion.”

“She has an entire underground operation running,” Derek said, his arms crossed over his chest as he stood next to Argent, “We’re not exactly sure _where_ it is, but it’s _bad._ It means that she has a lot more people behind her than we thought she did.” 

“How many people are we talking?” Brett asked, his eyes hard. Theo remembered how the tall werewolf and his sister almost died during the war, because of _Monroe_. The chimera suddenly felt a rush of hatred for the former counselor, she had hurt his _friends_. 

“We don’t know for sure,” Argent replied, his eyes on the map on the table in front of him. “But she’s going to be more confident now that she _does_ have more people, and that’s our chance. She’s going to be more careless, more willing to let small things go, because of the sheer amount of people she has. And we capitalize on _that_.”

“We need to be ready,” Scott cut in, his voice steady, “We don’t know when she’s coming, or where she’s coming from, but we know she’s _coming_.”

Unease loitered in the room, the air growing tense as it sank in that Monroe was back, whether they wanted it or not. Theo took a deep breath. “Do _we_ have backup?”

Scott turned to him, before sighing. He exchanged a look with Argent, whose mouth tightened for a split second before curling up. “You wanna call him?”

“Do we really need him?” Stiles groaned obnoxiously, and Lydia smacked his arm. “All he does is wear ugly scarves and poke holes in all of our plans.”

Theo suddenly realized who they were talking about: Isaac Lahey. The first official beta of Scott’s pack, though he had been bitten by Derek. He knew the werewolf had moved to France, and Theo had always thought that he had _left_ the pack, but apparently, he hadn’t. 

“ _Yes_ , we need all the help we can get,” Derek declared, giving Stiles a glare, “Ethan and Jackson too.”

The twin werewolf and the kanima, Theo put together.

Maybe the war would end with Monroe’s death this time. 

__________________________________

Theo was beginning to regret agreeing to movie night. 

“ _No_ , we’re watching Iron Man,” Alec complained, lying on the floor next to Lori, “It’s the first one, it makes sense.”

“But Winter Soldier is _better_ ,” Mason cut in, annoyed, and Theo was beginning to get a headache from the arguing that had been going on for the last ten minutes. 

“We’re gonna end up watching _nothing_ if you two don’t decide something soon,” Theo hissed from his spot on the couch, in between Brett and Liam. “Nolan’s already half-asleep.”

The human jerked up at the sound of his name, mumbling that he was awake. Theo raised his eyebrow at Mason and Alec, because _clearly_ , he was right. They both rolled their eyes, finally deciding the only choice was to watch neither and put Thor Ragnorak instead. Theo wasn’t complaining– it’s not like Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth were _bad_ to look at for three hours. 

An hour into the movie, he felt a weight on his shoulder, and he turned to find Liam’s head resting there, the beta’s eyes flickering as he tried to stay awake. Theo blushed, because this felt _nice_ , even if it kind of seemed like it was a dream. Brett seemed to sense something had happened, because he angled his head, smirking when he saw Liam’s position.

“You guys look comfy,” he whispered, and Theo’s cheeks darkened even more. Luckily, Liam had completely fallen asleep at this point, his breathing steady. 

“Nolan looks like he could use a pillow,” Theo retorted quietly, “Think he’d like your chest?” Brett’s ears turned pink, and he flipped Theo off before turning back to the screen. Eventually though, Theo couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore, and he slowly drifted off, vaguely realizing that he hadn’t thought of Tara even once today. Weird. 

He woke up to quiet voices and a click that kind of sounded like a camera.

“They’re so _cute_.”

“ _Shut up_ , if either of them wakes up, they’re gonna kill us.”

“But _look_ at them.”

“Send it to the pack chat.”

Theo slowly opened his eyes, the light attacking his vision as he squinted. The Puppy Pack was looking at him, and it took him a second to figure out why. Apparently sometime during the night, Brett had left the couch, and Theo had fallen sideways, laying horizontally. But the part the pack was most likely commenting on was the fact that Liam was _on top of him_ , his head on Theo’s chest. Theo’s face turned red, and the pack let out quiet snickers, pulling Liam out of his sleep. 

“The group chat’s exploding by the way,” Corey announced with a smile, “Have fun dealing with that.”

Theo groaned, and Liam rubbed his eyes, still not fully awake. The chimera thought the beta would run away as far as he could when he realized who he was lying on, but he just blinked, looking at Theo for a few seconds, before dropping his head back down onto his chest.

“Go away,” Liam grumbled to the pack, and they giggled as they left the room. The werewolf snuggled further into Theo’s chest. “You’re so warm.”

Theo blushed again, his eyes wide as he stared at the werewolf. “We should get up.”

“No. Keep sleeping. If they need us, they can wake us up.”

Theo wanted to argue, but Liam’s hand suddenly moved up to his chest, placing it over his heart, causing him to choke on his words. “ _Sleep_ ,” Liam pressed, and Theo didn’t wanna talk anymore. 

__________________________________

“So you’re the evil chimera that tried to kill Scott?”

Theo flinched at Isaac’s blunt question, shrinking into himself, until he felt Corey next to him, scowling at the tall werewolf. “He _was_ an evil chimera that tried to kill Scott. Now he’s just a regular chimera that’s actually a big softie.”

Isaac snorted, as he looked Theo up and down. “I don’t see it.”

“Well no one asked for your opinion,” Liam snapped, and Theo turned to him, telling him to calm down. The beta huffed angrily before taking a deep breath. 

“So which one of them is your boyfriend?” Isaac asked, and Theo choked as the pack cracked up. 

“Neither,” he stammered, his eyes flicking to Brett, who Theo _knew_ figured out his feelings for Liam. He was sure the rest of the pack also knew _something_ , but he really didn’t want to talk about this. Before Isaac could respond, the door flew open, revealing Layla.

“Theo, oh my god, remember that guy I was talking about? He’s _single_ ,” she blurted out, shoving her phone into his face, and Theo had to blink rapidly to focus on the screen to see the picture. “You guys would be so _cute_.”

Theo was about to tell her that he wasn’t really interested, when a growl cut off his words. He knew who it was of course, and it made him a little giddy when he caught the scent of jealousy in the air. 

“Who are _you?_ ” Isaac’s loud voice cut through the tension, his eyes glued to Layla, and she suddenly seemed to realize that there were other people in the room. 

“Layla,” she replied bluntly, her eyes narrowing, “Who are _you?_ ”

“Isaac,” the werewolf said, his voice softening and it almost sounded… _flirty?_ Oh, no. Theo could see what was happening, especially when he heard Layla’s pulse spike under Isaac’s unwavering gaze. There was no way this would end well.

“Layla, Isaac, Isaac, Layla. Isaac’s the pack’s annoying French werewolf, and Layla’s Theo’s friend,” Stiles gestured impatiently, “Great, now we’ve all met. Let’s get on with the meeting now.”

Scott was smiling a little as he started the meeting, catching Isaac up and telling the pack that Jackson and Ethan should be getting here sometime today. Theo had a hard time paying attention to the alpha’s words, his mind replaying the nightmare he had last night, when he was alone in his apartment. 

Tara was still there, taunting him, screeching as she told Theo he didn’t deserve her heart, didn’t deserve the pack, didn’t deserve _love_. But something was different this time. Because instead of Tara ripping _his_ heart out, she made him watch as she ripped _Liam’s_ heart out. Made him listen to Liam’s pleas and screams, and then silence. And then Liam’s face would change to Brett’s, and Corey’s, and Scott’s, and Layla’s and Stiles’. And over and over and over, they’d beg, beg Theo to help them, but he wouldn’t be able to. He’d be frozen, couldn’t do anything but watch as Tara shoved her hand in their chests, silencing their screams. Over and over and _over_. 

“Theo!” 

The chimera jumped, snapping his head up to find the whole pack staring at him worriedly. 

“Theo, are you okay?” Liam whispered, and Theo nodded, letting a smile lift his lips. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” and that was a _lie_ , and they _knew_ it was a lie, because Theo hadn’t been controlling his heart and his chemosignals, and they all could _hear_ it. 

“Theo–”

“Scott, I’m _fine_ ,” Theo cut the alpha off, not wanting to get into his nightmares with the pack. They were something that he kept to himself, and he wanted to keep it that way. The alpha didn’t believe him, hell, no one believed him, but he nodded hesitantly before turning back to talk with Isaac, who was giving him a calculating look. 

“You need to stop pretending you’re okay when you’re not,” Brett said to him, and Theo could pick up on the hint of irritation in his voice. “We’re your _pack_ , not strangers.”

“I’m fine guys, seriously,” Theo told the Puppy Pack, who were all giving him disbelieving looks because honestly, that was probably the biggest lie Theo had never told. 

Cause really, how could he be fine when his biggest enemy was his _mind_ _?_ He wanted it to stop, _god_ , he wanted them to stop, but they wouldn’t, and Theo had accepted that. What he did, who he was, he still remembered _all_ of it, no matter how much the pack seemed to forget. Which Theo didn’t really understand, cause how could they just _forgive_ him like that? How could they remember everything he did and decide that he was better now, that he didn’t deserve to be treated like he was before, that he wasn’t still _Theo?_ The chimera that had torn the pack apart, broken up _Stiles and Scott_ and killed multiple people. Including his _sister_. Theo didn’t understand how they did it, because Theo couldn’t forgive _himself_. 

The sound of the front door opening pulled Theo out of his thoughts, and he twisted to see two really attractive guys standing in the doorway. _Ethan and Jackson_. 

“Heard you guys needed your secret weapon,” one of them said arrogantly, while the other smacked his head. 

“Can we send them back?” Stiles asked hopefully, and the one who had talked turned to him with a raised eyebrow. 

“We’re here to save your asses, just admit it,” attractive guy #1 said and Scott sighed, apparently used to this happening.

“Jackson, Ethan, meet our new pack members,” the alpha said, introducing the Puppy Pack, Theo, and Layla.

Attractive guy #2, or _Ethan_ , looked at Theo. “You’re that chimera Scott told us about.”

Theo winced. He could only imagine what the alpha had said about him to the two older guys. 

But Ethan didn’t look mad, just had a small smile on his face. “We tried to kill them too. Don’t worry, almost half the pack did. Scott loves to collect all the reformed villains, we’re like baseball cards to him.”

Theo snorted, as Scott gave him a sheepish grin. It’s not like Ethan was _wrong_.

“So what are you?” Jackson asked Layla rudely, and she turned to him with narrowed eyes. 

“ _Human_. Which you could stand to be more of,” she retorted, and Theo let out a short laugh along with the rest of the pack. “I agree with Stiles, can we send this one back?”

Jackson let out an indignant noise, Ethan calming him down with an arm around his shoulder. “Why is she even here?”

“Because I can,” Layla said, rolling her eyes. “And I have to go home now, so Isaac? Wanna give me a ride?”

Theo choked, because she was _so_ not subtle, but the blond werewolf just smirked, grabbing Stiles’ keys. The human complained, but the two were out the door before anyone could stop them. 

The room was silent for a few moments. 

“That’s not gonna end well,” Scott finally said, and Theo let out a noise of agreement. 

__________________________________

Theo sat up straight, his heart pounding, blood rushing in his ears. 

He took a few minutes to calm down again, because he was _used to it_ by now, but that didn’t make it any _better_ , before making his way to the kitchen to get some water. 

And then he nearly jumped so high that his head touched the ceiling. 

“What the fuck?”

Peter was sitting at the table casually, like this was _his_ apartment, and yeah, it kind of was, but that’s not really what Theo meant. “Your heart was so loud I could hear it from _my_ apartment.

“So you decided to _break in?_ ” Theo was flabbergasted. He had thought Peter was one of the few in the pack that _wasn’t_ nosy, but apparently it was a _pack rule_. 

“You sounded like you were dying,” Peter replied, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at the chimera. “Needed to make sure you weren’t.”

“And why do you care if I was?” Theo retorted bluntly as he walked to the cabinet. 

“Oh, _I_ don’t,” the older werewolf drawled, “But I can think of a few people who might. Like a certain blue-eyed beta.”

Theo felt a blush rising on his neck, and fought to push it down. “Okay, well I’m _fine_ , not dead, so you can leave now.”

“You’re not as good at controlling your pulse as you think you are,” Peter noted, watching as Theo leaned against the counter, “It skips every time you say that.”

“Well,” Theo sighed out, “I have hell to thank for taking away that ability.”

Peter hummed. “Yes, _hell_. How was that experience? I've always wanted to know.”

The chimera gave the werewolf an exasperated look. “It wasn’t really the vacation you’re making it sound like it is.”

“Still want to know.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk about it,” Theo declared, putting his glass down, and standing up straight. “So, thanks for checking in, don’t do it again because it’s creepy, and have a nice night.”

Theo turned to walk to his room again, because if Peter could get _in_ , he could show himself _out_ , but Peter’s words stopped him cold.

“You remind me of myself, you know.”

The chimera whipped around to find the werewolf staring at him with a look in his eye that he couldn’t figure out. 

“Craved power, would do _anything_ for it,” Peter continued, “Betray _family_ , even _kill_ them.”

Theo’s whole _body_ flinched, but the older man didn’t stop. “Evil in every sense of the word, trusted no one, used _everyone_ , discarding them when they weren’t useful anymore. We’re more alike than you know,” he said, giving Theo an amused glance. “Forced into Scott’s pack cause we got too _attached_ to someone we shouldn’t have.”

Theo paused, his mind flipping through what he knew about Peter. “Malia.”

Peter let out a dramatic sigh, leaning back into his seat. “Yes, _Malia_. I shouldn’t have gotten attached, but finding out you have a _daughter_ isn’t something you can forget that easily. And now I’m stuck in the pack. Just like you.”

“I’m not _stuck_ ,” Theo snapped, and Peter smirked. 

“Aren’t you? Can you leave?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Theo hissed out, his eyes narrowing at the older werewolf. “I can leave if I–” 

Theo broke off, as it suddenly hit him. “If I _wanted_ to. But I… I _don’t_.”

Peter stood up, giving him a satisfied look. “Congratulations, you’re not _completely_ stupid. Stop running, Theo,” he said, his face suddenly serious, “No one’s chasing you, no one’s coming for you. Stop trying to run from a pack that’s _good_.”

“You broke into my apartment at two in the morning to tell me that I’m _part of the pack?_ ” Theo asked incredulously, because out of all the people he had expected this from, Peter was _dead last_ on the list. 

“No, I broke into your apartment to make sure you weren’t dead,” the werewolf said, rolling his eyes, “You teenagers are so dramatic.”

“ _We’re_ dramatic?” Theo repeated, dumbfounded. “You _broke into my apartment_. While I was _sleeping_.”

Peter waved him off, making his way to the front door, “A necessary precaution. If you died, Scott would blame _me_ , so I need to keep you alive. I don’t want an angry McCall pack on my hands.”

“You’re insane,” Theo said as Peter opened the door. “How does Malia tolerate you?”

Peter smirked, turning back to face the chimera. “The same way you do. I might be insane, but your heart’s not beating out of your chest anymore _and_ you realized that you’re part of the pack. _So_ , you tolerate me more than you think.”

“I think I see where Malia gets it from now,” Theo drawled, “I almost feel sorry for her.”

Peter let out a short laugh, and Theo wanted to be surprised, but the last fifteen minutes had pretty much taken away his ability to be surprised anymore. “You should tell her that, I’m sure she’d love to hear it.”

Theo snorted. “Yeah, right after she slits my throat for getting too close to her.”

Peter’s lips quirked up, and he gave Theo a small nod before walking down the hall back to his apartment. Theo closed his door and just… _stopped_. Cause what the fuck just happened? He was having a nightmare, he _knew_ that, and then _Peter_ showed up? And told him to stop running and that he was part of the pack, and then they were _joking around?_ Was Theo still in a nightmare? Was this all just a weird thing his brain came up with to give him a break from his usual dreams? Theo wasn’t completely sure, but he also just wanted to sleep, so he shoved everything to the back of his mind, and collapsed on his bed again. 

Hopefully, he’d actually be able to sleep for more than two hours this time.

__________________________________

“Peter broke into my apartment last night.”

The Puppy Pack’s reactions were _instantaneous_. Liam and Mason choked on air, while Nolan, Alec, and Lori looked slightly worried that the ‘creepy old man’ was in Theo’s apartment. Corey was giving him a concerned look, but Brett had a smirk on his face, because when did he _not_ , honestly. 

“ _What?_ ” Liam squeaked, and Theo’s lips lifted at the sound. 

“Peter broke in last night,” he repeated. “Said he heard my heart and thought I was dying. And then he told me I was _part of the pack_.”

“Peter?” Mason asked disbelievingly. “Like the Peter that tried to kill Scott multiple times and is super creepy? That Peter?”

“Did we suddenly get _another_ Peter in the pack?” Theo asked sarcastically, and Mason flipped him off. 

“He broke into your apartment in the middle of the night to tell you that you were part of the pack?” Alec clarified, and Theo nodded. 

“It was weird,” he said, and Liam snorted. 

“Is there any way you could say that someone broke into your apartment and have it _not_ be weird? But he’s right,” the beta said, putting a hand on Theo’s arm, and Theo had to fight the blush threatening to rise, “You _are_ part of the pack. And if Peter breaking into your house in the middle of the night is what it took for you to realize that, then I should go buy him a thank you card.”

Brett snickered, nudging Theo’s shoulder. “Guess ‘creepy old man’ was the right description. You should tell Layla.”

“Yeah, and she’d probably try to kill Peter or something, or use her pepper spray on him,” Theo replied with a smile in his voice. “And as creepy as he is, I don’t want him _dead_.”

“Who don’t you want dead?” Scott asked him as he entered the room. They were all in the living room, while the older pack had been outside, doing something that Theo hadn’t bothered figuring out. 

“Peter,” Corey answered for Theo, “He broke into Theo’s apartment last night.”

Scott froze, his eyes snapping to Theo. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Theo had to stifle a laugh at the expression on the alpha’s face. “No, it’s true. But it wasn’t _that_ bad, I guess.”

“How is Peter _breaking into_ your apartment _‘not that bad’?_ ” Scott hissed, and Malia, who had just walked in, whipped around when she heard Peter’s name. 

“Peter broke into your apartment?” Malia asked Theo, her eyes narrowed. 

The chimera was kind of afraid now. It had been fun before, but Malia’s expression was _scary_. “Uh, yeah.”

Malia stared at him for a few more moments, before sighing. “Well, that means he basically adopted you then. Breaking into your house is Peter’s way of showing affection. He did it to me three times after he found out I was his daughter.”

Theo’s jaw dropped, and he didn’t need to look at the Puppy Pack to know that they were just as shocked. “What the fuck?”

The werecoyote’s lips quirked up. “Get used to it. It’ll probably happen a few more times. The upside is that now you’ll have access to all his money. He gave me a credit card the day after he broke into my house for the first time.” Malia gave him a weighted glance. “And he’s _loaded_.”

Theo let out a disbelieving laugh. Peter’s way of showing affection was _breaking in?_ And giving them _money?_ Now he’s definitely sure he’s dreaming.

Scott looked between Malia and Theo, his eyes narrowed as he took in everything. “Does this mean you and Theo are _siblings_ now?”

Malia’s and Theo’s eyes widened simultaneously, both blurting out “ _No!_ ” in panicked voices. 

Scott and the Puppy Pack all looked like they wanted to say more, but then the rest of the pack came in, and they dropped it. Everyone settled in the living room, and it felt _comfortable_ , the sense of _pack_ drifting over all of them. Until Peter entered the house. 

The adults were all there, so it wasn’t _that_ weird, but half the pack had just found out that Peter _broke into_ Theo’s apartment and the fact that that might mean that Peter _adopted_ Theo. The older werewolf didn’t do anything, though, just stayed near the edge of the room, talking casually with Argent and Derek. 

Theo exchanged a wary glance with the Puppy Pack, who all seemed just as nervous about the werewolf’s entrance, but they all eventually relaxed when nothing happened, going back to their original conversations. 

“Theo,” the chimera heard about twenty minutes later, and the entire pack fell silent at Peter’s voice. “Here.”

And then the older werewolf threw something at Theo, and his supernatural reflexes caught it before he could even process it. It took Theo a second to realize it was a credit card, and he gaped at Peter. 

“Told you,” Malia said, amused, and Theo couldn’t stop staring. 

“Told you what?” Stiles asked, looking back and forth, confused. “What’s going on?”

No one said anything, because the people that _did_ know were too dumbfounded to explain it to the rest of the pack. Scott recovered first, a small smile on his face as he looked at Theo. 

“Apparently, Theo and Malia are now siblings.”

The pack _exploded_ , Malia and Theo groaning as Stiles screeched out an incredulous _What?_ Peter looked vaguely amused, as if he knew what he had done and enjoyed the chaos.

“Of all the things I was thinking of, that was _not_ one of them,” Stiles said, his eyes still wide as swiveled his head between Theo, Malia, and Peter. “Did Peter _adopt_ Theo?”

Theo squeaked at the question, but Malia just snorted. “Basically. And now Theo is richer than all of you.”

The pack was silent as they took that in for a couple of seconds. Lydia was the first to speak. 

“You better get me a really nice birthday present,” she said, looking at Theo, and the chimera nodded, his head still reeling from everything that just happened. 

He should’ve known there was no such thing as a normal day in Beacon Hills.

__________________________________

“Isaac’s a really good kisser.”

Theo choked, giving Layla an unamused look. “I did _not_ need to know that. _Ever_.”

“I just thought you should, you know?” Layla said, grinning, “This is what friends talk about.”

“Well, _don’t_.”

Layla laughed at the disgusted look on Theo’s face, ruffling his hair. “You can’t stop me.”

“Try me.”

But before Layla could respond, Theo’s phone buzzed on the table. He picked it up, confused why Scott was _calling_ him– usually the alpha just texted. 

“Scott?”

“Theo, my house, _now_. Monroe.”

The call was short, Scott hanging up immediately, and Theo’s blood chilled. The hunter was back, and the fight had begun. He rushed out of the diner, Layla on his heels, and Theo drove as fast as he could to Scott’s house.

“Layla, you shouldn’t be here, you’re _human,_ ” Isaac reprimanded as soon as they entered, but Layla smacked his chest, pointing at the multiple humans scattered around the room. Theo left them to fight it out, heading to the Puppy Pack. 

“What’s happening?” he asked Brett, who gave him a nervous look. And Brett was _never_ nervous. 

“She’s here. Argent’s contacts tracked her close by,” the blond rushed out. _Fuck_. 

“Is she attacking or playing defense?” Theo was trying to be logical, trying to think through this as much as he could even with the panic closing in on his heart. 

“She’s not doing _anything_ ,” Liam answered, shifting so that their hands brushed, like he _knew_ Theo was panicking, and Theo suddenly felt a rush of affection for the beta. But this wasn’t the time to think about it. “It’s like she’s waiting for something.”

“Like what?”

Mason sighed, giving him a tired look. “We don’t know. We thought she’d be reckless since she has the numbers, but she’s being even _more_ careful than before. She’s covered up _everything_ that could connect back to her.”

_Fuck_. This was bad. They were basically a standing target right now, a standing target with absolutely _no_ information. 

Scott rushed into the room, Derek and Stiles right behind him. “We got something!”

The room quieted down, anxiously waiting for the news, praying that it was good. Unfortunately for them, when has the universe ever given them good news?

“She has over _fifty_ hunters with her at the warehouse,” Derek said bluntly, and the mood _dropped_. “We’re dealing with a lot of people here. And they’re all as invested in this as Monroe is.”

_Holy shit_. Apparently, Monroe had been doing some serial recruiting since she went into hiding after they beat her the first time. 

“That means we have to be careful about this,” Scott breathed out, running a hand through this hair. “These aren't people affected by the Anukite, scared into fighting. These are people that believe they’re doing the _right thing_.” 

“Well,” Alec said abruptly, “shit.”

Theo let out an unamused snort. _Shit_ didn’t even _begin_ to cover this situation. 

The pack meeting continued, Argent and Derek taking the lead as they briefed the rest of the pack on what they knew. Two hours later, the pack was all getting a little hungry, and Theo volunteered to go pick up lunch for everyone. 

“Wait, I’ll come too,” Layla blurted out, and she followed him before he could even say no. Theo sighed and got into the truck, driving to the pizza place that everyone seemed to be weirdly obsessed with. They were walking back to the truck with their arms filled with pizza boxes when Theo felt it. 

“Layla, get in the truck!” he yelled, throwing her the keys and dropping the pizza. He shifted, narrowly dodging a bullet. 

“Theo!” Layla screamed as another bullet managed to hit him and he gasped. 

“Layla, go! Tell the pack, I’ll heal, it’s okay,” Theo breathed out, as more hunters appeared, and Theo knew that there was no way out of this for him. But Layla still had a chance. “Layla, _go!_ ”

She turned to him one more time, tears in her eyes, but she slammed on the pedal, backing out of the parking lot and rushing out. 

Theo collapsed as soon as she was out of sight, too many bullets in his body to count, too weak to keep standing. He felt someone kick his stomach, and he groaned, turning over onto his back, staring up at the hunters who all had grins on their faces. 

“ _Theo_ ,” one of the hunters said, and the chimera felt a chill go down his spine at the _glee_ in his voice, “Just who we wanted.”

The world went black as the hunter swung the end of his gun at Theo’s head.

__________________________________

Theo gasped awake as water dripped down his body, and he opened his eyes to see Monroe giving him a cruel smile. 

“Finally,” she exclaimed, “You’re awake. Let’s get started, shall we?”

“What do you want?” Theo snarled, struggling in his bonds. He could feel the electricity that he was connected to, could feel the wolfsbane slowly seeping into him at a rate that wouldn’t _kill_ him, but would definitely leave him _weak_. 

“So _angry_ ,” Monroe tsked. “I could use that, Theo. You’d be such a _valuable_ asset on my team. Nothing like what you are with Scott’s pack. They don’t want you, but, Theo,” she paused, running a finger down his face and Theo flinched, “ _I do_.”

“Fuck you,” Theo hissed, and Monroe laughed. 

“I do love your determination,” she said, nodding to one of the hunters behind her, and suddenly, the electricity increased, causing Theo to jerk up. “It’s a pity you won’t join me.”

Monroe turned to him with a glint in her eye. “Or are you that desperate to see your sister again?”

Theo froze, and he shouldn’t have been surprised, Monroe had been the _guidance counselor_ , and she probably knew a lot more about all of them than they wanted her to know, but the mention of Tara still twisted his heart. 

She noticed his reaction, and gave him a sadistic smile. “Tara, was it? Such a shame that she died all those years ago, and because of _you_. Do you ever think about what she would be like if she was still alive, Theo? If you didn’t _murder_ her?”

Of course he did. She’d be in college by now, and she always wanted to be a teacher, wanted to teach little elementary schoolers. She’d be having the time of her life at school, surrounded by friends and people who loved her, because that’s just who she was. So _kind_ , so _perfect_ , making everyone around her fall in love with her. She would’ve had a perfect life if she was alive, and Theo took all of that away from her. 

“She was so _young_ , wasn’t she?” Monroe continued, and Theo barely registered her voice, sinking deeper into his mind, “But then again, so were _you_. You didn’t know what you were doing back then.”

_Yes, he did_. The Dread Doctors had manipulated him and fucked with his head to get him to do it, but he knew exactly what he was doing as he watched Tara in the cold water, begging for Theo to save her. And it _killed_ him whenever he thought about it.

“But you weren’t so young when you killed Josh and Tracy.”

Theo’s heart stopped. Of _course_ she knew about that too. 

Monroe’s face was _devilish_ as she lifted his head up. “You knew what you were doing then, didn’t you? I bet you even _enjoyed_ it. Enjoyed seeing the life drain out of them, the people that trusted you, that were part of your _pack_. But you only wanted them for power. Didn’t care about _them_.”

Theo’s mind was in _overdrive_ , flashes of nightmares and memories running through, because she was _right_ , he didn’t _care_ , not back then. He didn’t _care_ about Josh and Tracy, he didn’t _care_ about their lives. He only wanted _power_ , wanted _freedom_ from the Doctors. He could still see Tracy’s eyes, a flash of betrayal running through them as she realized that she was just a _pawn_ in his plan, could still see how the light in them slowly faded away as he took her power. 

“And _Scott_. Killed him in cold blood,” Monroe said, and Theo could hear the smile in her voice. “You almost succeeded, too. And then, we have _Liam_.”

Theo’s heart stuttered at the beta’s name, and he desperately hoped that he was safe, that he didn’t try and do something stupid, like try to come and save Theo. 

“Liam, he’s so innocent, isn’t he,” she went on, “Scott’s first bitten beta, thrown into this world without wanting it. And there’s his anger issues. Does it ever get tiring controlling him, Theo?”

Theo bared his teeth at her, growling, but she kept the smile on her face, amused. “I also heard that you went to hell,” she added, changing the subject abruptly. “How did that make you feel?”

Fucking guidance counselors, Theo thought, keeping his mouth shut. Monroe smirked, continuing the one-sided conversation she was having. 

“I can only _imagine_ how it made you feel. Having your heart ripped out over and over again does sound exhausting.” How the fuck did she even _know_ that? 

“And I bet it was Tara doing it,” Monroe guessed, and Theo tried to hold back a wince, but fell short, “I bet it was her taking _her_ heart back, because you don’t deserve it, do you? You don’t deserve such a kind heart, Theo. Don’t deserve to keep walking around with it in your chest, when she’s six feet under, where _you_ put her.”

_Fuck_ , she knew exactly how to get into his head, knew exactly which buttons she had to push to hurt him. And she was pushing _every single one_. 

“There’s no one coming for you, Theo, no one’s gonna save you. They’re probably celebrating that they finally got rid of you,” and _fuck_ , Theo didn’t want to believe that after the last few weeks, he _really_ didn’t want to. “Finally got rid of the chimera of death that tore their pack apart, that murdered so many people, that’s good for nothing but to cause _pain_.”

Theo’s heart ached, cause after hearing everything he did from Monroe, hearing his entire past aired out like that, he knew she was right. He _was_ good for nothing except to hurt people, because that’s _all he did_. Betrayed the people that trusted him, harmed the people who loved him. Theo didn’t deserve trust, didn’t deserve _love_. And the pack _should_ be happy they finally got rid of him. They don’t have to worry about Theo anymore, don’t have to worry about wondering if he’d go back to being evil anymore. And if today was his last day alive, Theo was glad that at least he wasn’t dying believing a lie. 

“But you can make it all stop,” Monroe pulled him from his thoughts. “Tell me where Scott McCall is, and I’ll let you go. You’ll be free, can go back to the life you had before. All of it stops– just tell me where Scott is.”

Theo’s chest tightened. Monroe was asking him to betray the pack, betray Scott, just like he did last year. Asking him to betray Scott to save _himself_. 

“No.”

Monroe paused, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “No? You don’t _have_ to die, Theo. Not for a pack that’s not even yours. Where is Scott?”

Theo suddenly registered her words. _Where is Scott?_ Scott was at his house, along with the rest of the pack, but… if Monroe was asking him where he was, that meant he wasn’t there, meant that something was happening. Scott was planning something, and Theo almost laughed, because he suddenly knew _exactly_ where Scott was. “I don’t know.”

Monroe’s nostrils flared, and she waved a hand, and the electricity _surged_. “C’mon, Theo, tell me where he is, and this all stops.”

“I don’t know,” Theo panted, struggling to hold back his scream. He wasn’t betraying Scott, not again. _Never_ again. 

“Where is Scott, Theo?” Monroe’s voice was getting louder as she got more frustrated, and she had a crazed look in her eye and she looked at him. 

“I… don’t… _know_ ,” Theo burst out, the last word morphing into a scream as Monroe grabbed the dial and turned it all the way up. 

Monroe let out a frustrated shriek, walking over to the IV attached to him, and she increased the dosage of wolfsbane. Theo gasped as it hit him a few seconds later, and he felt so _weak_. Everything hurt, and the pain was converging on his ability to think.

“Theo!” he suddenly heard from somewhere below him, but his mind was too clouded with _pain_ to even recognize who it was. 

Monroe screeched with annoyance. She suddenly grabbed Theo, untying him, but he was too sluggish to even break free from her grasp. She yanked him across the floor, and Theo realized that they were on the _second floor_ of the warehouse, a floor that was more like a loft, cutting off in the middle to reveal the ground floor. She pushed him to the edge, and Theo stumbled, almost falling, but catching himself just in time. He heard a yelp from below, and he weakly lifted his head to see the pack below him, at the other corner of the warehouse.

“Goodbye, Theo,” Monroe declared, and Theo felt something poke his back. _A gun_. His eyes met Liam’s, the beta’s face was panicked, his mouth open, about to scream. “Have fun in hell.”

He heard the gun, felt the bullet enter his body, heard the screams from below, felt his knees give out as the last bit of his strength drained from him, and he fell forward. 

Monroe had dragged him to the edge for a reason, and Theo fell to the ground, with nothing below him to break his fall. He could vaguely sense people running, but they weren’t fast enough. And it didn’t matter anyway– Theo could _feel_ the poison in his bloodstream. He wasn’t getting out of this alive, he _knew_ that.

And that thing that people say about your life flashing before your eyes when you’re about to die?

It was true. 

Theo saw himself back when he was just a _kid_ , standing on the bridge, staring at a drowning Tara. He saw himself being taken by the Dread Doctors, experimented on and _fixed_ until he wasn’t a _failure_ anymore. He saw his two childhood best friends, who had grown up perfectly fine without him, grown up _better_ without him. He saw the bad things– like the way he killed Tracy and Josh, the way he _drained_ Scott, the way he manipulated Liam to kill his alpha, the way he _fell_ that day, begging for someone to save him, but who was he kidding? No one would. He saw the good things– like Layla, who instantly declared herself as his new friend, Brett and Corey, who teased him and forced him to take care of himself, Peter, who was still a little creepy, but still reassured him that he was _pack_ and gave him _money_ , Scott and Stiles, who had no reason to forgive him, but still _did_. And he saw Liam, the blue-eyed beta that he shouldn’t have gotten attached to, but did anyway. He saw Liam’s head on his chest, waking up to the snickers of the pack. He saw their hands brushing at pack meetings, the way Liam always seemed to know when he needed that touch, because he was his _anchor_. He could finally admit it. Seconds away from his death, he could admit it. And he never even got to tell Liam. Just another regret to add to the long list he already had. He saw _everything_ , a fucked-up movie playing in front of his eyes as he fell.

Theo closed his eyes.

Maybe hell would at least be a little better this time around.


	3. Chapter 3

Theo woke up to pain exploding _everywhere_.

Which didn’t make sense because he was _dead_ and if he was dead, that meant he shouldn’t be in pa–

_Oh_. 

Right, he was in _hell_. Of course, he was in _pain_. And if this was the amount of pain that Theo would _start_ with, he could only imagine how much worse it would get when Tara finally showed up. He let himself think about the world he left for a moment, give himself a brief reprieve as he thought about Scott, and Brett, and Corey, and Layla, and _Liam_. He hoped that they beat Monroe, hoped that she was _rotting_ in hell just like he would be.

He hoped that they were _happy_ , because he knew that he wouldn’t be. Not now, not tomorrow, not _ever_. 

His stomach _lurched_ , and he almost gasped at the pain. He was getting tired of waiting, waiting for Tara’s inevitable arrival, waiting for her to reach into his chest and put an end to his pain. Just so he could live it all over again. And again, and again, and again, and _again_ , for the rest of eternity. 

“Where are you, Tara?” he whispered into the darkness, unable to see, unable to move, unable to do _anything_ but lie there and _wait_.

“Theo.”

He heard his name, but it didn’t sound like Tara. It didn’t sound like that low, creepy voice that haunted his nightmares and his daydreams. No, it almost sounded like… _Liam?_

But Liam wasn’t supposed to be in hell with him. And Theo started to panic, because _why was Liam in hell with him?_ Liam was _good_ , he was everything Theo _wasn’t_ , and he wasn’t supposed to be _dead_. He felt his pulse spike, his thoughts sending him into an endless hole. His body was still on _fire_ , but he felt his breath hitch, felt it get uneven as he kept thinking about Liam, Liam, Liam. 

“Theo!” And there it was again. Liam was _here_ , why was he _here?_

“Theo, _listen to me_.”

Theo froze. That wasn’t Liam. That was… that was… _Brett?_ Why was _Brett_ here?

“Theo, you need to calm down, your heart rate is too high, you’re gonna go into shock.”

And that was… _Scott?_ Was this all a game that Tara was playing? Make him listen to their voices, listen to them _caring_ about him, just to rip it all away at the end, make him _suffer_ , because that’s what he deserved.

And Theo accepted it. He lay still, accepting the fate he deserved, accepting that this was all just part of Tara’s _game_ , part of his _punishment_. 

“His heart’s too slow now!”

“What the _fuck_ , Theo, why is your heart slowing down?”

“We’re losing him, drive _faster_!”

“I just ran through _five_ red lights, Corey, I’m going as fast as I _can_.”

“Theo, _fuck_ , listen to me, you _need to hang on_.”

It was all just a game, he reminded himself. Don’t listen to them, don’t give in to her manipulation, don’t listen, don’t listen, _don’t listen_. 

“Stiles, tell Melissa to get to the hospital _now_. And Dr. Geyer too.”

“ _Theo_ , c’mon, stay with us.”

“How much wolfsbane did Monroe put in him, _Jesus_.”

“Theo, don’t you _dare_ fucking die right now.”

Theo almost laughed. He had to give it to Tara, she got Brett’s aggressive affection down pretty well. It was nice, though, to hear all their voices again. He hoped that this would happen every time, because at least he’d be able to keep hearing them, be able to hear glimpses of the people he would never _see_ again. 

“Theo, _please_.”

The quiver in Liam’s voice pulled at his heart. Why, Tara, why’d you have to make him hear _Liam_ in pain? He hoped this part of the torture would be over soon, so he could get to the ripping his heart out part, so he could stop hearing Liam _crying_. 

“Be careful with him, we don’t know how bad it is.”

“It’s _pretty fucking bad_ , Scott, open the fucking door.”

Theo felt his body being lifted, which confused him. Was Tara making him _fly?_ What does _this_ have to do with his torture? He thought back to when he was a kid, when people used to ask him what superpower he wanted. He never said flying, always super strength, because maybe then he could impress his parents enough for them to care about him. He had always been so _weak_. He never said flying, so what was Tara doing?

He felt something against his back though, and realized he wasn’t flying anymore. Okay, Tara’s coming, then. She’d be here soon. Theo thought back to the nightmares he’d have when he was still alive, the way he wouldn’t even have to open his eyes to sense his sister crawling towards him, that _smile_ on her face, the _anger_ in her voice. 

“Theo, honey, we’re putting you under anesthesia, okay? Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

The voice was calming, Scott clearly got his comforting personality from _somewhere_ , and it almost made Theo relax. 

And then the world went dark.

__________________________________

Theo opened his eyes.

He was back in the hospital, the bright lights hurting his brain, as he picked up on the steady beeping of the heart monitor next to him. 

Theo was… not dead?

He was… _alive?_

He tried to move his head, but it sent a burst of pain through his entire body, and he groaned softly. 

“Theo, oh my _god_ ,” he heard, and it took a second for him to realize it was Stiles. “Liam’s gonna _murder_ me.”

Stiles’ face appeared in front of him, his brows pulled together in concern, and Theo tried talking, but his throat felt like a _desert_ , and he tried to awkwardly mouth _water_ to the human. Stiles seemed to get it though, because he helped Theo sit up slowly, before grabbing a water bottle from the table next to him. Theo lifted a hand to grab it, but Stiles made a noise, pushing it down, and _poured the water into Theo’s mouth_. What the actual _fuck?_

“Liam’s actually gonna kill me, I’m one hundred percent serious,” Stiles said, making eye contact with Theo, whose throat at least didn’t feel like it was coated in sand anymore. “I forced him to go home and shower like thirty minutes ago. He was here until then.”

“How– how long?”

The question was pretty vague, but Stiles understood and sighed deeply. “Four days. You were– it was really bad.”

Theo was dumbfounded. He was out for _four days?_ And Liam stayed here the _whole time?_

“Now that I think about it, I’m like _actually_ gonna die,” Stiles blurted out, and Theo felt his lips quirk up a little, because yeah, he was confused at what had happened, but Stiles sounded _genuinely_ afraid. “Brett, Corey, and Layla were also here until I sent them away. Maybe I should go into hiding.”

Theo tried to laugh, but it was more like a really gross cough. He reached for the water again, and Stiles poured more. He felt his throat clear up a little, and he looked up at the human. “And why’d you send them away?”

Stiles gave him an unamused look. “They’ve been here for so long, I think some of the nurses thought they were _living_ here. And they were so _gross_ , they needed to go home and get cleaned up. Liam, Brett, and Corey all still had blood on their clothes.”

Theo’s pulse spiked, and Stiles looked at the heart monitor, alarmed. “Are they okay?”

Stiles gaped at him, his mouth open. “You’ve been out for _four days_ , and _just woke up_ , and you’re asking if _they’re_ okay?”

“Are they?”

“Yes, they’re all _fine_ ,” Stiles said and Theo didn’t know why he sounded so irritated. “Oh my _god_ , Theo, do you even care about _yourself?_ ”

Theo blinked. “Yes?”

“You almost di–”

The door slammed open, and Stiles jumped up. “He woke up like _five_ minutes ago, I _swear_ , I didn’t know he was gonna wake up the one time you guys left, _fuck_ , please don’t kill me.”

Theo wanted to laugh, but Stiles was pushed out of the way, and he soon had arms wrapped around him, so tight that it _hurt_. 

“ _Liam_ ,” Theo choked, “You’re gonna kill me.”

The beta pulled away quickly, his blue eyes staring into Theo’s. “Sorry, sorry,” he said, wrapping his hand around Theo’s wrist, and he began siphoning the pain. Theo felt his other wrist being wrapped in a hand, and he twisted his head to see Brett, who was looking at him like he was debating whether to punch him or hug him (this seemed to be a common dilemma when it came to Theo). But with two werewolves taking his pain, Theo started to relax, the needles in his body slowly calming to a dull ache. 

“I can’t believe you wake up the _one_ time we’re all out of the room,” Layla snapped, turning to Stiles, and Theo snickered, hearing the human squeak. 

“Don’t kill him, guys,” Theo said with a smile, “I still need to convince him that we could beat Captain America in a fight.”

Stiles let out a snort, while the other four people in the room looked like they were leaning heavily to the _punch Theo_ side of their dilemma. 

“Are you okay?” Corey asked him, his voice soft as he looked at Theo.

“Well, I feel like I just got shot a hundred times with wolfsbane and then hit by a speeding truck, but other than that, I’m fine.”

Theo was making a joke, but apparently, they didn’t find it funny.

“ _Fuck_ , Theo, you almost _died_ ,” Liam breathed out, wrapping his arms around the chimera again, but not squeezing as hard. “I swear, I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

“ _Our_ sight,” Brett hissed, glowering at Theo. “You _asshole_.”

Theo let out a short laugh, his heart _bursting_ because his _friends_ were here, and he could listen to their voices again, and he could _see_ them again, because he wasn’t _dead_. It hadn’t been a game, Tara wasn’t torturing him, they actually _cared_. “I’m sorry.”

He suddenly found himself in the middle of a group hug, and he inhaled the scent of all his _friends_. His _pack_. 

“Tell anyone this happened, and I’ll deny it to my death,” Brett muttered from Theo’s right, and Stiles snickered. 

“Too late, the picture’s already in the pack chat,” the human said, and Theo heard the smile in his voice. 

Brett let out a growl as he pulled away, but his eyes landed on Theo’s wide grin, and he stopped moving to Stiles, apparently deciding that killing Stiles was less important than the chimera’s happiness. 

“Oh my god, _Theo_ ,” the chimera heard, and he turned his head to see Scott, running to Theo’s bed. “When did you wake up?”

Theo found his head shoved into the alpha’s chest as he hugged him, and his words got cut off, Stiles answering instead. 

“Are you okay? Does your head still hurt? You’re probably still a little drowsy, because of the anesthesia, and you should drink water, but not too mu–”

“Isn’t your _mom_ the nurse?” Theo interrupted Scott’s rambling dryly, and the alpha glared at him before his face softened. 

“But seriously, you were out for a while, are you okay?”

Theo sighed, tilting his head back to rest on the pillow. “Still a little weak, but I’ll be okay, I think.”

Liam’s hand slipped into his, and the touch anchored him. _Anchor_. Right, he needed to tell Liam about his revelation. Well, less revelation and more his _acceptance_ of said revelation.

“You’re my anchor,” Theo blurted out, turning to Liam, momentarily forgetting that there were other people in the room. Liam’s eyes widened as his mouth dropped.

“Wh– How– That has _nothing_ to do with what you were just talking about!” Liam stammered and Theo felt a small smile on his lips. He was so fucking _cute_.

“I know, but I finally accepted it when I was falling, and the last thing I thought about then was that I never got to tell you, so… I wanted to tell you now,” Theo rushed out all in one breath, and Liam froze. Theo vaguely heard someone gasp from somewhere in the room.

“The last thing you thought about was _me?_ ” Liam whispered.

Theo squeezed Liam’s hand in his own, looking right into the beta’s eyes. “ _Yeah_.”

A noise ripped from Liam’s throat, and that was the only warning he got before he felt lips pressed to his, pressing _hard_. Theo’s brain short-circuited for a moment, but then he remembered that this was _Liam_ , and he was _kissing_ him, so he should be kissing _back_. Their lips melded together, Liam’s lips were so _soft_ , and the werewolf brought his hands to Theo’s cheeks, cupping them so _delicately_ as he kept _kissing_ , and Theo was sure he was in _heaven_. 

But unfortunately for them, even supernaturals had to breathe, and they broke apart, gasping for air softly. 

“That was a hell of a first kiss, guys, I’m glad I got it on video.”

Theo and Liam jolted, and their quiet bubble bursted as they realized they weren’t alone. They angled their heads to see Stiles with his phone pointed at them and everyone else with amused looks on their faces. 

“We’re gonna play this at your wedding,” Brett said, his lips pulled in a wide smirk, and Theo flushed. 

“It only took you guys like, what? Six months?” Corey teased, and Liam flipped him off, nudging for Theo to scoot over before settling in next to him, their bodies pressed against each other. 

“I’ll let you talk to me about Liam if you let me talk about Isaac,” Layla said, a smile lifting her cheeks.

Theo snorted. “Yeah, no thanks, I’m good.”

The door swung open again, and Theo looked up to see the _entire pack_ at the door, and they all rushed into the room that definitely wasn’t big enough for all of them. 

“Dude, you’re _alive_ ,” Mason breathed out, and Theo stifled a snicker. The human always loved to point out the obvious. The pack took turns saying their little _I’m so happy you’re alive_ speeches to Theo, and it felt _nice_. Theo had a _pack_ , had a _family_. Monroe was _wrong_ , they didn’t want to get _rid_ of him. 

Peter and Malia were the last ones in the long line, both of them standing there so _awkwardly_ and they looked so _similar_ , Theo couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Malia said bluntly, and she gave him a clumsy one-handed hug that felt so _weird_ , but Theo didn’t _hate_ it. “You should run with me and Derek when you’re better. It helps.”

Helps with _what_ , she didn’t say, but Theo was grateful. Full-shifted runs were something he hadn’t done in a while, and he craved that feeling again. He nodded, and she stared at him for another second before walking over to Scott. Theo turned to Peter.

The older werewolf didn’t say anything for a few moments, and Theo shifted uneasily under his gaze. 

“Congratulations on not dying.”

And then Peter turned and left the room. What the fuck was _that?_

Liam, who was still next to him, snickered, and the sound brought Theo out of his thoughts. “I think that’s the best you’re gonna get from him.”

Theo snorted, shifting down a little on the bed so that he could rest his head on Liam’s chest. “Better than nothing, I guess.”

He snuggled closer to Liam, because he could _do_ that now, and let the beta’s steady heartbeat lull him into sleep. 

__________________________________

“You have nightmares, don’t you?”

Theo’s head snapped up to find Isaac in the doorway of the hospital room, alone. The Puppy Pack was all at school, Melissa forbidding them from skipping. Theo was reading a book that Beth brought him when she found out he was in the hospital, but he slowly put it down as the werewolf walked in. 

“Why?”

Isaac let out a sigh. “That day at Scott’s house, it’s like you were trapped. Liam said your name five times before you snapped out of it. And I… I know how that feels.”

Theo gazed curiously at the blond. He had somewhat of an idea about what Isaac was talking about, he had to learn about the pack before he infiltrated it, but he didn’t know the _details._

“My dad, he… he used to trap me in a freezer in the basement,” Isaac said slowly, and Theo started to interrupt him to tell him he didn’t have to talk about this, but the werewolf cut him off. “I used to be in there for _hours_ sometimes, and that _fucks_ with your head. I wake up screaming more nights than not, thinking I’m still there. And,” Isaac looked up at him, “I don’t know what you did, not the details, but I know you were sent somewhere. Somewhere like your own personal freezer.”

Theo blinked, and Isaac continued, his fingers playing with the end of his scarf. “You can either pretend everything’s fine and go through it by yourself, or let the pack _help you_. That’s why we’re here, we’re your _family_. Don’t hide it, Theo,” his mouth was pulled down in a small frown, “Let us _in_.”

Theo was taken aback. Isaac seemed so… _carefree_ when they first met, it was hard to match that Isaac with the one sitting in front of him right now. But they all had their fair share of trauma, didn’t they? Being supernatural came with a price, and it takes that trauma and makes it a hundred times worse. 

“I’m trying to,” Theo finally said, after processing his thoughts. “I don’t wanna be alone, not anymore. I thought…” 

Theo trailed off, wondering if he should reveal what he was thinking when he first woke up, when he thought he was in hell, because he hadn’t told _anyone_ about that yet. But something about Isaac made him want to tell him, like the tall werewolf would _understand_. 

“When they were taking me to the hospital, I thought I was dead,” Theo said quietly, and understanding dawned on Isaac. “I thought that I was in hell, and I heard their voices. Liam, and Brett, and Corey, and Scott, and I thought… that it was part of my torture, like Tara was taunting me with them, a pack that I’d never have again. And I– I _accepted_ it.”

Isaac winced, but Theo didn’t stop talking, _couldn’t_ stop talking now that he had started. “I accepted that I was dead, that I would be punished for the rest of eternity for what I did. But hearing their voices again, it was like, like a _lifeline_ , cause even though I was dead, and they were gone, at least I could hear their voices and _remember_. But I–”

A noise that almost sounded like a sob left Theo’s throat. “I was still _alone_. And I don’t want to be alone like that anymore, I _can’t_.”

Theo felt a hand on his arm, and he jumped at the sudden relief he felt. Isaac looked down at him, black lines traveling up his arm. 

“Emotional pain is still pain,” the werewolf said, “You’re not alone, Theo. You have _us_. All of us.”

Theo took a deep breath, his pulse settling. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Isaac said, and a small smile lifted his lips. “Just tell me everything you know about Layla.”

Theo snorted, the mood instantly lifting. “You hurt her, I hurt you.”

Isaac raised his hands in surrender, laughing. “I don’t plan on it. Did she say anything to you about me?”

The chimera gave him an unamused look. “Even if she _did_ , why would I tell you?”

“Cause we’re _friends_.” Theo’s heart stuttered at the word, but Isaac was nice enough to not mention it. 

“She was my friend first,” Theo retorted, snickering at Isaac’s pout. “I’m not telling you shit.”

“I’ll tell you what Liam said about _you_.”

Theo stilled, looking at the werewolf’s confident smirk. “What did Liam say about me?”

Isaac’s eyes twinkled. “Liam was my friend first, I’m not telling you shit.”

Theo groaned at his own words being repeated back at him, rolling his eyes. “Isaac, _tell me_.”

“Nope,” the blond shook his head with a laugh, “Layla first.”

The thing was, Layla didn’t even tell him _much_. The only thing Theo could think of was–

“She said you were a good kisser.”

Isaac _lit up_ , his eyes brightening. “What else?”

Theo glared at him. “ _Nothing_ , that’s it. What did Liam say about me?”

“He said–”

“I love you.”

Theo froze, his head snapping to the door. Liam was looking at him, his blue eyes staring into his _soul_. Isaac seemed to realize that this was a private moment, and slipped out with a quiet _get him, Raeken_.

“You– you love _me?_ ”

Theo was _reeling_ , because it sounded like Liam just said that he loved him, and there was no way that was _true_ , because that was _Liam_ , and he was _Theo_. 

Liam made his way to Theo’s bed, placing his hands on Theo’s face. “I love _you_ , Theo Raeken.”

The chimera’s breath hitched, his heart fluttering at the words, at the way Liam’s thumbs were gently rubbing his cheek, at the way he was so _close_. “I love you, Liam. I have for a while now.”

The werewolf grinned, before closing the gap and connecting their lips. Theo had been recovering pretty fast, and he quickly reciprocated, grabbing Liam’s hips and pulling him to straddle his lap. Liam smirked into the kiss, rolling forward just a little, and Theo made a noise that could’ve been a moan. The rest of the world faded away, Theo could only see Liam, smell Liam, _feel_ Liam. 

The door slammed open, and Theo heard a yelp. 

“We’ll come back later,” Scott rushed out, closing the door hastily, but Theo and Liam had already jumped apart, their faces _red_. 

The door opened again, but this time it was Brett and Stiles, with twin smirks on their faces, and they had _no_ boundaries, so they just sauntered in, dropping onto the chairs in the room. 

“Scott, you can come in, they’re not making out anymore,” Stiles announced, and Theo’s cheeks darkened even _more_. The alpha hesitantly came in, guilt on his face. 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said to the two boys on the bed, but Theo waved him off. He was beginning to realize that being in the pack meant absolutely _no_ privacy. Guess everything came with a price. 

“Is there a _reason_ you guys are here?” Liam asked the three boys, raising his eyebrow.

Scott grinned sheepishly. “Layla’s yelling at Isaac, and she’s scary, so we were gonna hide in here.”

“Layla’s yelling at Isaac?” Theo asked, his mind flickering to when Isaac had said he wasn’t planning on hurting her. He might have to go through with his threat now. “What did he do?”

Brett snorted. “Woke her up from her nap.”

A laugh burst out of Theo. He probably should’ve warned the werewolf of his friend’s hatred of being woken up. Oh well, he learned his lesson. “She’s _human_ , and you both are _werewolves_ , and you’re scared of her?”

Stiles raised his eyebrow at him. “Are you saying you _aren’t_ scared of her?”

Okay, fair point. Layla was _frightening_ , supernatural or not. 

“When can you leave?” Brett asked Theo, and the chimera rolled his eyes.

“I was perfectly fine to leave yesterday, but Melissa shut that down, saying I still needed to rest. I think I can leave tomorrow.”

“Don’t argue with her,” Stiles cut in, “She’s scarier than she looks.”

Theo exchanged a glance with Liam, both of them thinking back to that day in the hospital, Melissa running in to save them from a hunter. “Yeah, I know.”

__________________________________

“What happened?”

Theo didn’t elaborate, but Liam knew what he was talking about. They were laying on the hospital bed, Liam’s head on Theo’s chest as he drew random lines and shapes on it. 

“She’s dead.”

Theo exhaled. He’d had a feeling that that was the case, but hearing it said out loud was so _satisfying_. “Who?”

Liam lifted his head, putting his chin on Theo’s chest as he looked into his eyes, and it almost looked like he was… _amused_. 

“Peter.”

Theo let out a disbelieving laugh. Because the thing was, it wasn’t _that_ surprising that the older werewolf had been the one to kill Monroe, he was one the few ones in the pack that wasn’t _completely_ against killing. But something in Liam’s voice told him there was more to the story. 

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Liam grinned. “He cares about you.”

“ _Peter?_ ”

“Yes, _Peter._ After you– after you fell, Monroe started laughing, taunting us about how you were… were _dead_ ,” Liam choked on the word, and Theo put a hand in the beta’s hair, hoping it would comfort him. “And me and Scott and all of us rushed to you, because you were… weren’t moving. But then Monroe started talking about how we should be glad that you’re dead, that you were just a _burden_ on the pack, that you’d always been evil and didn’t deserve to be alive. And… and you don’t know how _angry_ all of us were, we were _furious_.”

Theo’s breath hitched at the pure _rage_ in Liam’s voice, and he knew that the werewolf was trying to control his shift. He dragged his blunt nails along Liam’s scalp, because it always relaxed Theo when Layla did it to him, and he felt Liam’s tense posture break a little as he kept talking.

“And she kept going on and on about how you were _dead_ and how you killed people and how we were all monsters, but that you were the _worst_ out of all of us, and I just couldn’t _take_ it anymore, and I started to rush to the second floor. But, Peter… he was faster.”

Liam’s solemn mood suddenly lifted, and a small smirk settled on his face. “He took out all the hunters by himself. It was _insane_. He grabbed Monroe by the neck and he just started _squeezing_ , and all of us were just _staring_ , because he looked so _angry_. I’ve _never_ seen him that mad, it was kind of scary. And then Scott called out his name, because it’s still _Scott_ , and he didn’t want her to _die_ even after everything, but when Peter looked down at us, it wasn’t at Scott.”

The beta grabbed his free hand, intertwining their fingers. “It was at _you_. And his face just, _hardened_. She was dead in the next second. Scott didn't even say anything, just told us we needed to get you to the hospital quickly.”

Theo let out a breath. Peter killed Monroe, and yeah, part of it might’ve been because she was a _bitch_ and was hunting all supernaturals, but if what Liam was saying was true, part of it was because of _him._ Which meant that the older werewolf actually _cared_. 

“Wow.” That was all Theo could really say, because what _else_ was he supposed to say? Peter had _broken into_ his apartment, and then given him a credit card, and Malia had _told_ him that meant he cared, but _this?_ This meant that it was _true_. And Theo didn’t know how he felt about that, because when was the last time he had _anyone_ that even _resembled_ a father figure in his life? His actual dad sure as hell wasn’t anything _close_ , the Dread Doctors were even _worse_ , and that was pretty much the end of the list. 

“You think when we get married I’ll have to ask for his permission?” Liam asked suddenly, and Theo’s heart skipped a beat at _when we get married_ , but then he processed the rest of the question, and a short laugh burst out of him. 

“I have a feeling he’s not the touchy-feely type,” Theo reassured Liam, and they both grinned. “I think he’d actually kill you if you tried to do that.”

“You’re right, I’ll ask Malia instead,” Liam said slyly, and Theo snorted. 

“Please don’t.”

“You think you can convince Peter to buy me a car?” Liam questioned, and Theo smirked at the genuine speculation in his eyes. 

“I have a credit card that’s linked to his bank account, Liam, _I_ could buy you a car.”

Liam’s eyes widened as he remembered Peter throwing a card at Theo. “Oh my god, you’re _rich_ now. I’m dating a _millionaire_.”

Theo made a noise in the back of his throat. “ _I’m_ not a millionaire, my weird, kind of murderous adoptive dad is a millionaire.”

Liam snickered, laying his head back down on Theo’s chest. “You’re a millionaire by association and you have access to his bank account. That’s enough to be a millionaire in my eyes.”

__________________________________

Theo ran into a pole. 

“ _Fuck_! Liam, what the hell?”

His boyfriend laughed, saying sorry, but sounding the opposite of apologetic. Theo was blindfolded, and Liam was pinching his nose, so that he wouldn’t be able to scent out anything, saying it would ruin the surprise. He was also instructed to plug his ears, and Theo _knew_ that all of it made him look _so stupid_. But Liam was stubborn, and Theo couldn’t say no to him, and so here he was, stumbling on the sidewalk and bumping into poles to go wherever the beta was taking him. 

Theo felt Liam shove him forward, and a rush of warm air hit him. Liam removed his blindfold and let go of his nose at the same time, and the smell of the bookstore hit him right as he opened his eyes. 

“SURPRISE!” 

Theo’s eyes widened as he took in the sight– the whole pack was crowded in the small store, wearing goofy grins as they looked at him. Liam’s hand slipped into his as he pulled him further in, out of the doorway. 

“What’s this?” Theo asked, his brows furrowing when he realized _everyone_ was there, even Melissa, Peter, Parrish, Argent, Noah and Liam’s parents. 

Brett threw an arm around his shoulder. “It’s a _party_ dumbass, did you hit your head too hard on the headboard last night?”

Theo _flushed_ as the pack cracked up, because he knew _exactly_ what Brett was talking about, and he really didn’t want to talk about it. Unfortunately, when did the universe care about what he wanted?

“Guess you finally found that top, huh?” Corey teased, and Theo wanted to _disappear_. 

“Shut up, all of you,” Theo mumbled, because this was distinctly similar to that day at Scott’s house, and if everything was going the same way, Theo could guess what was coming next.

Sure enough, Layla reached over to pull Brett’s hair, and he rolled his eyes up again, his mouth opening _obscenely_ , just like that day. Stiles’ laugh was the loudest as he walked up to them, poking Theo’s red cheeks. 

“Making fun of you is so fun,” the human snickered, and Theo smacked his hand away, and quickly revised his answer to the superpower question– he’d want to teleport so he could get the _fuck_ out of here, maybe live a nice, quiet life on a small farm in Europe. 

Scott had a wide smile on his face as he quieted everyone down, and Theo had never been more grateful for the alpha. “You’re already part of the pack, Theo, but we wanted to have a ‘welcome to the pack’ party.”

Theo felt his lips quirk up as he thanked Scott. He’s had so many people come to tell him that he was part of the pack, he’d have to actively _block_ it out to forget it, but them throwing a party for him made him… _happy_. This was _his_ pack now, his _family_ , and they weren’t going anywhere. 

The next few hours passed in a whirlwind of conversations, drinking games, and embarrassing stories. 

Apparently, Stiles had a better memory than Theo thought, because he remembered all the weird, embarrassing shit from years ago. Like the hopeless crush Theo had on that really cute fifth grade boy back when he was in fourth grade. Theo retaliated by bringing up Stiles’ insane obsession with Star Wars, to the point where he spoke only in Star Wars quotes for a whole _month_. 

The parents all joined in on the embarrassing stories, much to Stiles’, Scott’s, and Liam’s chagrin. Even _Peter_ joined, exposing some of Derek’s childhood stories, and to the pack’s surprise, Derek managed to hold himself back from killing his uncle, though he certainly _looked_ like he wanted to. 

Eventually, the topic turned to video games, which was, Theo could admit, pretty random, but when was this pack _not?_

“I beat Liam every time the first time we played, even though I hadn’t played in _years_. Liam just _sucks_ ,” Theo said, his eyes glistening with amusement.

Liam smacked his chest, and his face turned red. Theo caught the spike in his pulse, and he suddenly remembered that day, when Theo had said something similar, and Liam had reacted almost the same way. 

Theo was worried he had hurt Liam back then, but Liam didn’t look hurt _now_ , but then why–

“Holy shit,” Theo exclaimed, his eyes wide as he snapped his head towards Liam, who instantly knew what the chimera was thinking of. 

“Don’t you _dare_ ,” Liam hissed, but the whole pack heard him, and the pack couldn’t hear something like that and _not_ pester them about it.

“What? Don’t you dare what?” Nolan asked, his brows pulled together, and Theo burst out laughing because Liam wasn’t _hurt_ that day, he was _horny_. 

“You… you said you were thinking of something else that day,” Theo snickered, ignoring Liam’s threat, because if _he_ could get embarrassed and survive, so could Liam. “You really were thinking of _something else_ , weren’t you?”

“Shut _up_ ,” Liam muttered, his cheeks flaming, and the whole pack was looking at Theo expectantly, waiting for him to tell them why he was laughing like a mad man. 

“Wait…” Mason blurted out, and Theo turned to him, and he instantly knew that the human had connected the dots. “Oh my _god_ ,” Mason said, his voice filled with glee. 

Theo nodded, still laughing, but the pack was getting annoyed at being left out of the loop and Brett smacked the back of Theo’s head. 

“Explain, asshole.”

“I– Just think about what I just said,” Theo gasped out, his sides _aching_ from laughter. The pack looked confused, but Theo could tell they were replaying the conversation in their heads. 

It took a few moments, but Theo started to see their eyes widening as they caught on, turning to Liam with smirks on their faces. The beta was on _fire_ now, shoving his head into Theo’s shoulder. 

“And… and I said the same thing that day too, the first day we played, when I beat him,” Theo breathed out in between giggles. “And he tensed up and turned red, and I thought I said something _wrong_ , thought I _hurt_ him. But–”

“But he was just _horny_ ,” Isaac filled in with delight. Theo cracked up again, flopping back into his chair as the pack exploded in laughter, Liam’s face so heated that Theo could feel it through his shirt. 

“Can we move on now?” Liam mumbled into Theo’s neck, and Theo lifted the beta’s head up. 

“This is revenge for running me into a pole.”

“I hate you,” Liam grumbled, and Theo intertwined their fingers together.

“No, you don’t.”

__________________________________

“Let’s go.”

Theo looked up from his phone to see Malia, with her arms crossed and staring at him expectantly. He turned his head, looking if she mistook him for someone else, even though he knew he was the only one of the pack at the diner. “Go?”

Malia rolled her eyes and grabbed Theo’s arm, dragging him out of the diner. He yelped a hasty bye to Gina, who waved at him, grinning when she saw him being hauled by the werecoyote. 

“You could be a little less violent, you know?” Theo noted, as they both walked in the direction of Scott’s house. “And what if I was doing something important?”

Malia snorted. “You were texting Liam, you were making heart-eyes at your phone.”

The tips of Theo’s ears turned pink. “That’s important.” The chimera suddenly realized that they weren’t walking towards Scott’s house anymore, instead taking a turn that took them into town. “Aren’t we running? Where are we going?”

“No.” Malia didn’t elaborate, and Theo raised an eyebrow in confusion. The werecoyote let out a small sigh. “I need help getting Scott a present.”

Theo’s eyes widened. Malia wanted him to help her with _Scott’s present?_ Over the last two weeks, he’d gotten used to going on full-shift runs with her and sometimes Derek, but that had been the extent of their interactions. And now, suddenly, here she was, asking him for _help_ like they were… actually _siblings_. 

“You want _my_ help with this?” the chimera asked in disbelief.

“Yes, dumbass, do you see anyone else here?” Malia drawled, before her lips quirked up in a small smirk. “I also might’ve lost my credit card.”

Theo gaped at her. “You _lost_ your _credit card?_ Isn’t Peter gonna disown you or something?”

“No, this is the third time it’s happened,” Malia said, rolling her eyes as if the thought of Peter disowning her for _losing a credit card_ was absurd. “He just glares at me for two minutes then hands me another one. But I didn’t get a chance to see him today.”

“I really think you’re acting way too casual about losing a credit card _three times_. How did you even manage that?”

“It’s not that big of a deal, Jesus _Christ_ , Theo. Now shut up and help me with the present.”

They wandered the isles of the store, looking for something that Scott would appreciate. Theo was still distracted by the fact that Malia had asked _him_ for help and also somehow lost her credit card _three times_ , but he eventually let it go. Weirder things have happened. Like the fact that Malia looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown.

“Malia, _calm down_ ,” Theo pressed, “We’ll find something.”

“ _When?_ We’ve been looking for like, an _hour_ already,” Malia snapped at him, and Theo didn’t take it personally, because he had a feeling he’d be the same if he was in her position, looking for Liam’s present. 

“Maybe you could give him something you _made_ , instead of buying something,” Theo suggested, and Malia gave him an unimpressed look.

“You’re seriously suggesting arts and crafts?” she asked incredulously. “I don’t have the patience for that.”

“Not _arts and crafts_ ,” Theo huffed in frustration. “Doesn’t Scott like chocolate? Like so much that he’s kind of _obsessed_ with it?”

Malia paused, giving him a look. “Yeah.”

Theo waved his hand in a _there you go_ motion. “So bake him cupcakes or something. And he’s like stupidly sentimental, so print pictures of you two together and then put cardboard behind them so they can stand upright on the cupcakes. He’d like that a lot more than anything you could find here,” he said, gesturing at the store. 

The werecoyote stared at him for a few moments, not saying anything. “You have cupcake pans at your apartment?”

Theo sputtered. “I didn’t say to do it at _my_ apartment.”

“Too bad, your idea’s good. And you said you’d help me with the present, and this counts as helping, so,” Malia yanked his arm towards the food section, “let’s get the ingredients.”

And that’s how, two hours later, Theo found himself in his kitchen, squinting at a chocolate cupcake recipe on his phone while Malia sat on the counter, eating chips. 

“You could _help_ , this is _your_ present,” Theo hissed at Malia, who gave him a grin, but didn’t move from her spot on the counter. “I’m gonna fuck this up on purpose and you won’t have anything to give Scott tonight.”

Malia dropped her claws, bringing them dangerously close to Theo’s neck, and he jumped back, his arms raised in surrender. “Okay, _okay_ , fine.”

His apartment door swung open, and they both turned to find Peter walking towards them, a credit card in his hand. “One more time and I might actually cut you off,” he said to Malia, throwing the card at her. 

“No you won’t,” Malia snorted, pocketing the card as she jumped down from the counter.

Peter suddenly seemed to notice what was going on in the kitchen. He looked at Theo skeptically. “Are you… _baking?_ ”

Theo sighed. “It’s for Scott. Your daughter is very scary when she wants to be.”

Malia smacked Theo’s head, making him drop the spoon he was holding into the batter. He watched as it sunk into the thick mixture, and he turned to scowl at the werecoyote. She shrugged, grabbing another chip. “Your fault.”

Theo didn’t even bother arguing, there would be no convincing Malia. Peter walked around the counter, peeking over the chimera’s shoulder at the batter. 

“Your batter’s too dense, add more milk,” he said casually, before heading over to the couch in the living room and making himself at home, because since when was this Theo’s apartment? No, this hasn’t been _Theo’s_ apartment since Peter broke in that one night a couple of weeks ago.

Theo exchanged an incredulous look with Malia. Since when did _Peter_ know how to bake?

“You guys can stop with the surprised faces,” Peter called out.

“You know how to bake.” It wasn’t really a question, but the older werewolf rolled his eyes and nodded.

Theo let out a frustrated noise. “Then _help_!”

Peter turned his head to stare at him. “No.”

The chimera threw his arms up, he was so fucking done with the Hales. “If this turns out to be shit, blame _him_ , not _me_ ,” he told Malia before going to the fridge to grab milk, because _hey_ , Peter might be an asshole, but he knew how to bake, so Theo wasn’t going to ignore his suggestion. 

Five minutes later, Peter decided that Theo was going to fuck everything up and stood at the counter as he watched the chimera follow the recipe, occasionally chiming in with a _don’t do that_ or a _are you blind, the recipe says baking_ soda _not baking_ powder. Malia was leaning against the counter, thoroughly amused as she watched Theo grow more and more frustrated. 

The front door _slammed_ open. “Theo, I didn’t fail my bio tes…” 

Liam’s voice trailed off as his eyes took in the scene, Theo with flour _everywhere_ , Peter tasting the batter, and Malia just laughing at it all. 

“Are you guys _bonding_?”

Theo ignored Liam’s question, shrieking as Peter dipped his hand into the batter _again_. “Peter, I fucking _swear_ , do that _one_ more time and I _will_ dump all of this on you.”

And Malia kept laughing. Theo’s head snapped up as he heard someone clearing their throat, suddenly remembering Liam. 

His boyfriend had a brow raised, and Theo flushed, remembering Liam’s question that he had ignored. “No, these two assholes just decided to infiltrate my apartment and won’t leave.”

“I’m the asshole that gave you a credit card, so you _might_ want to consider being nicer to me,” Peter drawled, and Malia snickered. 

Liam walked to the counter, shaking his head. “I never thought I’d see the day _you three_ bonding as a _family_. Maybe I’m dreaming.”

Theo leaned in to give his boyfriend a quick kiss. “Congratulations on not failing,” he said, recalling what Liam had been yelling as he entered. 

Liam wiped his cheek, and Theo was sure there was flour all over his face. “Well, thanks to you, I actually understand shit when _you_ explain it.”

“If you guys are gonna be gross, I’m gonna call Stiles and tell him to come over here,” Malia threatened, and Theo immediately pulled away from Liam. He could barely handle Malia and Peter– if Stiles was added to the mix, he might actually try to throw himself out a window. 

It took them another _two hours_ to finish the cupcakes, making sure all the pictures were lined properly and were perfectly arranged on the cupcakes. Scott’s birthday was tomorrow, but the pack was having a surprise party tonight, and Malia wanted to give him her present at midnight, so she asked Theo to bring them with him when he came. Theo sighed, but agreed, knowing that her question wasn’t _really_ a request, it was more of a demand. 

Three hours later, he was struggling to balance the cupcake platter in one hand, while attempting to lock his truck with the other in front of Scott’s house. Theo was a hundred percent certain that if anything happened to the cupcakes, Malia would kill him with _no_ hesitation, so he was just about to give up when Layla and Isaac pulled up. 

“Layla, thank fucking god, can you lock my truck?” Theo rushed out, not even waiting for the girl’s answer before throwing her the keys and making his way inside the house quickly. He had felt his phone buzz probably fifty times in the last five minutes, and he could bet that it was Malia asking him why he was late. 

“I’m here, I’m here,” Theo blurted as soon as he entered the kitchen, seeing Malia’s annoyed expression. Scott wasn’t home– Stiles and Derek took him out, making up some excuse to drag him along. He felt a little bad for the alpha, honestly– he was stuck being the third wheel to two people who weren’t even _dating_ , yet had so much sexual tension, you could cut it with a pair of _blunt_ scissors.

“I was one second away from finding you myself and killing you,” Malia grumbled, grabbing the cupcakes from Theo, putting them on the counter before carefully making sure they weren’t damaged. The stark contrast between her gentle actions and violent words was something Theo would probably never get used to, but, well, it was _Malia_.

Layla and Isaac entered the kitchen, and Theo squinted at Layla.

“You look different,” he said, his eyes searching for what felt _off_. 

“Thanks for noticing, dumbass,” Layla rolled her eyes, and Theo’s eyes widened as he realized.

“We were supposed to do that _together_ , what the fuck Layla?”

Malia looked confused, and Isaac snorted. “I can’t believe you two had a pact to get _tattoos_ together.”

“You got it with _him?_ ” Theo yelled, and Layla shook her head quickly.

“ _No!_ He was just there… and might’ve gotten one too at Derek’s after, but I didn’t get it _with_ him.”

Theo crossed his arms over his chest, and scowled at Layla. Malia snickered, and Theo heard the click of a camera. Great, another picture. Can’t this pack go _one day_ without taking a picture?

“Oh, come on, Theo, don’t be like that,” Layla said, poking his cheek. “You can go with Liam instead!”

“Go with me for what?” Liam asked as he entered the kitchen, holding a stack of pizza boxes. He placed them on the counter, before noticing Theo’s miffed expression. “Who did it?” Liam narrowed his eyes at the other three in the room, trying to figure out who hurt his boyfriend, and it was so _cute_ that Theo almost broke character and smiled. 

“Layla and Theo had a pact to get tattoos, Layla went with Isaac to get one instead, and now Theo’s acting like a baby about it,” Malia recapped the last five minutes to the beta, still smirking. 

“Oh,” Liam let out, and turned to Theo. “Are you actually mad?”

No, obviously not. But Theo didn’t want Layla to know that. He stayed silent, glaring at the girl. And he did a pretty good job of pretending too, until Liam got close.

“I could distract you, if you want,” the beta whispered in his ear, and Malia and Isaac cracked up, because they could still _hear_ it, and Theo blushed from the tips of his ears down to his neck. 

“ _Liam!”_ Theo yelped, smacking his boyfriend’s chest, but the werewolf didn’t look sorry. 

“You’re not mad, are you?” Layla asked Theo, and he shook his head.

“Go get all the tattoos you want with your boyfriend,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Just stop talking about your sex life with me and I’ll be fine.”

“ _Theo!”_ Layla screeched, flushing, as Isaac’s eyes widened at Theo. “You _bitch_.”

Theo snickered, raising his hands in surrender as Layla punched his arm. “I know things about Isaac that I want to burn out of my brain,” he shuddered, and Liam and Malia laughed. 

Theo’s phone buzzed, and he fished it out of his pocket to see that Stiles texted him, they were ten minutes away. 

“They’re almost here, is everything ready?” he asked, looking at Malia. 

“Just waiting on Lydia, she’s supposed to be bringing the appetizers.”

Two minutes later, the banshee and the rest of the Puppy Pack walked in, and the house was _packed_. It was basically chaos– everyone trying to find a hiding place for when Scott walked in, but by the time the front door opened a few minutes later, they all managed to be hidden.

“SURPRISE!”

The lights turned on to reveal a blindfolded Scott, and the pack all froze, confused. Stiles pulled the blindfold off quickly, and Scott took in the sight and grinned ear-to-ear.

“Thanks, guys,” the alpha hugged Malia, because it had obviously been her idea. 

“Why were you blindfolded?” Alec asked, voicing the question in everyone’s heads.

“So I wouldn’t have to see Stiles and Derek making out in the back of the car,” Scott answered nonchalantly, and everyone’s jaws dropped as their head snapped to the two blushing men in the doorway. 

“ _Finally_.”

The whole pack shared Brett’s sentiment. 

__________________________________

“Is this really necessary?”

Brett looked at him unamused. “ _Yes_ , Layla said that you’ve wanted one for a long time, and we do too, so we can all just get it together.”

Theo sighed, looking at Brett and Corey, who both apparently _desperately_ wanted tattoos, because they had latched onto the idea as soon as they heard Layla talking about it at Scott’s party. Brett, he could understand, but _Corey?_ He had no fucking idea why the other chimera wanted a tattoo. 

“Why?”

Corey blushed at the question, looking down at the floor. “Promise not to laugh.”

“We make no such promises,” Brett drawled, and really, Corey should’ve known better than to expect different from Theo and Brett.

“Mason thinks tattoos are hot.”

Brett and Theo burst out laughing, as Corey’s cheeks darkened even more. Of course the reason Corey wanted one was for _Mason_ , honestly, Theo should’ve seen that one coming. Theo pulled up to Derek’s loft, and he was seriously thinking of telling the werewolf to open up a tattoo parlor for supernaturals or something, because he would make a shit-ton of money off of it. Though he was already filthy rich, so he probably doesn't need it. 

Derek rolled his eyes as the three boys entered the loft, grabbing his blow torch. “I should start charging everyone for this.”

“It’s Peter’s money, go ahead,” Theo retorted, and the former alpha snorted. 

“Who’s first?”

Theo, Brett, and Corey all looked at each other. They had all sent the designs they wanted to Derek before, but it just hit them that they were actually doing this. The long silence apparently annoyed Derek, cause he grabbed Theo’s arm and pushed him onto the chair. 

“Congrats, you’re the lucky one who gets to go first,” the werewolf said dryly, and looked at the other Brett and Corey. “Hold him down, this is gonna hurt.”

Well, that’s reassuring, Theo thought. The blow torch fired up, and Theo felt Brett and Corey’s hands on his shoulders. 

“Don’t move,” Derek muttered, and that was the last thing Theo heard before the pain exploded. 

An hour later, they all walked out with brand new tattoos, wincing as the cold air hit their skin. 

“I feel like my arm’s about to fall off,” Brett mumbled, and Theo snorted. 

“Stop being so dramatic, it wasn’t that bad.”

Brett shoved him lightly, and the three got into Theo’s truck. 

“What does it mean?” Corey asked quietly, and Theo knew he was talking to him, about his tattoo.

Theo let out a small sigh as he started to drive. “It was her favorite flower,” he answered after a few moments, and he didn’t need to say the name for his friends to understand. “And it’s on top of where the IV was that day.”

Brett and Corey exhaled sharply, their eyes drifting to Theo’s right forearm, where a small black ivy flower sat, and there was no scar to cover up because of his supernatural healing, but Theo felt that the second the tattoo was burned on, he could breathe a little easier, didn’t have to see where Monroe had stuck the IV in his arm anymore. 

Theo didn’t know why Tara had decided that _ivy_ would be her favorite, compared to other flowers, it definitely wasn’t as _pretty_. But it was almost ironic, that Tara’s favorite flower was ivy, because Theo _knew_ what it represented. He knew that it symbolized fidelity and loyalty and everything Theo didn’t show Tara. He had betrayed her, left her for dead, all because three creepy-looking people told him he didn’t have to be _weak_ anymore. And then he betrayed Tracy and Josh too, killing them when they were his _pack_ , his supposed _family_. And he didn’t even stop there, no, he betrayed Scott and Stiles, his two childhood best friends, and basically what Theo was trying to say was that he had been the opposite of loyal for almost his entire life. 

He looked at the small flower on his arm again, remembering that day at the warehouse with Monroe. Because that day, he was loyal for the first time in his life to someone other than himself. He _didn’t_ betray Scott, didn’t betray his pack. That day was the first time Theo was faithful, and it had almost led to his death, but he wouldn’t change a single thing if he had to go through it again. He’d choose the pain, the torture, the _suffering_ over and over if it meant that he wouldn’t betray anyone again. 

And that's why he’d chosen a tattoo of the flower. So every time he looked at it, not only would he remember Tara, but it would remind him of the day he chose loyalty over self-preservation. The day he chose the pack over himself. The day he finally earned the right to have a permanent ivy flower on his body. 

The day he finally proved to _himself_ that he had changed. 

__________________________________

Theo was sitting at the front desk of the bookstore, reading a biology book he found on a _bookshelf_ , because Beth had brought out all the ones from the storage room to the front the day Theo came back to work so that he could read them. 

His phone buzzed and he flipped it over and immediately smiled at Liam’s name on the screen.

**liam:** _brett just told me that you promised him cookies if he stayed in school all day_

**liam:** _where the fuck are my cookies_

Theo snickered. Brett had a bad habit of ditching school whenever he got bored– which was pretty much every _five_ minutes, so Theo bribed him with cookies, because he _knew_ his friend loved the chocolate-chip cookies that Theo had spent _weeks_ perfecting after Layla had asked for them for her birthday. The rest of the Puppy Pack wasn’t _as_ bad about school as Brett was, which was why he didn’t bribe anyone else. But clearly, Brett had spread the word, because just as he was about to reply to Liam, he got a text from Corey. 

**corey:** _if there are no cookies when we come to your apartment after school, the whole pack’s reached a verdict to murder you_

**theo:** _tell brett i’ve reached a verdict to murder him_

**corey:** _wait let me tell him_

**corey:** _he said no_

Theo snorted, putting his phone back down on the desk. Now he was going to have to make enough cookies to feed an entire _village_ because the Puppy Pack acted like _savages_ when it came to his chocolate-chip cookies. Liam once _punched_ Brett in the nose to get the last one. Theo’s phone buzzed again.

**liam:** _you better make a whole batch just for me asshole_

**theo:** _or what?_

**liam:** _or_

**liam:** _i won’t do that thing anymore_

Theo flushed, knowing _exactly_ what his boyfriend was talking about. He desperately hoped that the pack wasn’t reading the texts over Liam’s shoulder. 

**theo:** _fine_

**theo:** _i hate you_

**liam:** _love you too_

The chimera closed his book, getting up to stretch. If he didn’t leave now, he wasn’t going to be able to finish the cookies in time, and he _really_ didn’t want a hungry and mad Puppy Pack on his hands. He told Beth he had to go, and the woman gave him a tight hug before reminding him that he didn’t have to come in tomorrow, that he was allowed to take a break. He remembered the similar conversation they had weeks ago. Theo couldn’t believe how much things had changed since then, it was _absurd_. He nodded and left, driving to his apartment as fast as he could, because he really, _really_ wanted these cookies made on time. 

He rushed into the apartment, threw his keys somewhere in the living room, and ran to the kitchen. An hour and a half later, the entire apartment was filled with the smell of freshly-baked cookies, and the Puppy Pack _groaned_ when they walked in.

And just like Theo expected, they all started pushing each other to get to the cookies first, but he stood in front of the doorway to the kitchen, blocking them off.

“Wash your hands first,” he demanded, and there was a scurry of footsteps as they all ran to the bathroom. Liam’s the only one who stayed, slipping under Theo’s arm to wash his hands in the sink. 

He had barely even dried his hands when he reached for a cookie, and Theo rolled his eyes at his yelp when he realized they were still _hot_. 

“These are so _good_ ,” Liam moaned, and Theo’s eyes darkened at the sound. 

“Oh, _hey_ , that’s not fair,” Alec called out as he entered the kitchen. “Why did he get to use the sink in here?”

“Because I’m his boyfriend, dumbass,” Liam said, grabbing another cookie. “I get special privileges.”

Theo wrapped his arms around Liam’s waist, placing his chin on the werewolf’s shoulder. “You also get the special privilege of helping me wash all these dishes.”

The rest of the Puppy Pack snickered as Liam complained, and Theo placed a soft kiss on the beta’s shoulder before pulling away. The front door opened, and Theo wasn’t even surprised, because he’s pretty sure the whole _pack_ has a key to his apartment at this point.

“Theo, Isaac cheated.”

The chimera stiffened, and the entire room stood still as Layla walked in. The Puppy Pack was staring in shock as Theo’s anger rose. 

“ _What?_ ”

“Isaac. He cheated. He said he didn’t, but I knew he was lying, I could just _tell_.”

Theo went to the living room to grab his keys and walked back to the kitchen. “Where is he?” he asked calmly, his voice _straining_ with the effort not to yell. 

“Layla, I’m sorry!” Isaac rushed into his apartment, “I didn’t think you’d be _that_ mad about it.”

Theo was _shaking_ with rage, and he could see the rest of the pack’s jaws drop at Isaac’s words, cause who the fuck says _that_ after they cheated on someone?

“Why the fuck would she _not_ be mad?” Theo growled, and Isaac turned to him confused.

“Wha– why are _you_ mad?” the tall werewolf asked him, and Theo _lunged_ , but Brett and Liam saw it coming and grabbed his arms, pulling him back. “Layla, what the hell did you tell him?”

“That you cheate–'' Layla's eyes widened. “ _Oh_. Oh, no, Theo, _no_.”

“ _What?_ ” Theo snapped, struggling in Brett and Liam’s grip.

“He didn’t cheat like _that_.”

Isaac swirled towards Layla. “You told him I _cheated?_ Layla, what the hell were you thinking, obviously that would be his first conclusion!” The werewolf turned to Theo, making eye contact, like he was trying to show that he was telling the truth, and Theo paid attention to his heartbeat. “Theo, I didn’t cheat on Layla, I would _never_. I cheated when we were playing MarioCart, that’s why she’s upset.”

Theo froze, because his pulse didn’t skip, and Liam and Brett finally let him go. “You cheated,” he said slowly, “while playing _MarioCart?_ ”

Isaac nodded, and Theo leaned against the counter in relief. “Layla, what the _fuck?_ You gave me a _heart attack_ when you rushed in saying Isaac _cheated_.”

Layla laughed, intertwining her fingers with Isaac’s. “Yeah, that probably wasn’t the best way to word that.”

“ _Probably?_ ” Lori asked in a strangled voice, as she reached for another cookie, which like Theo expected, were pretty much all gone already.

“Okay, _definitely_ wasn’t the best way to word it,” Layla corrected with a grin on her face. “Wait, are those the chocolate-chip cookies you made for my birthday?”

And before Theo could even respond, she was at the counter, grabbing a cookie. The chimera rolled his eyes, collapsing into a chair. He felt like he just aged five years from the emotional rollercoaster he just went on. 

Next time, he was going to let Layla _explain_ before jumping to conclusions.

__________________________________

“Do you still have nightmares?” 

Theo inhaled sharply at Liam’s question. They were in bed in Theo’s apartment, a more and more common occurrence nowadays, and the beta’s head was on his chest.

“Sometimes,” Theo whispered into the dark room, and he felt Liam’s hand tighten around his own.

“Do you wanna talk about them?”

“It’s– they change, all the time,” the chimera said, his mind flipping through the various things he’d had to see while he was sleeping. “Sometimes it’s Tara ripping my heart out, but sometimes it’s you, telling me I don’t deserve you. Or Scott, saying I’ll never be part of the pack. Or Layla, leaving because she said she finally realized what a monster I am.”

Liam let out a harsh breath. “You _know_ that’s not true, Theo, _none_ of that is true. You deserve me, you deserve the pack, you deserve _everything_.”

The beta suddenly grabbed Theo’s right arm, and the chimera was confused until he felt Liam tracing the flower on his forearm. He sucked in a breath.

“I googled what ivy meant, when you told me what the tattoo was,” Liam said quietly, still tracing, and Theo couldn’t _breathe_. “Loyalty. And Theo, you’ve proven you were loyal so many times, you’ve shown that you won’t _betray_ us.”

“But I did before,” Theo breathed out, and Liam kept tracing, his finger dragging over the black lines, over and over again. 

“And you’re not that Theo anymore. You’re the Theo that didn’t betray Scott even though you were being _poisoned_. The Theo that chose to stay _loyal_ to the pack, even when you were almost– almost _dead_. And this flower?” Liam looked up at Theo, a soft expression on his face. “You deserve it.”

Theo took a deep breath, his eyes holding Liam’s, unsaid words floating between them, because they didn’t need to _talk_ to communicate. The chimera lifted his head, closing the small gap between their lips, and Liam sunk into the kiss, a soft, gentle one. 

Their bodies pressed together, fusing as one as they lay on the bed. And Theo’s eyes slowly closed, the weight of Liam’s arm around his waist anchoring him as the soft, steady beat of the beta’s heart lulled him to sleep. 

And Theo didn’t have any nightmares that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was really hard to write, I think I rewrote the ending three times, trying to get it right
> 
> anyways, I hope you liked it, and if you want to play a little game, guess who said what in the snippets of conversation heard on the way to the hospital at the beginning
> 
> thank you for reading as always!


End file.
